Code Geass: A New Signature - Britannian Military Route
by Anzac-A1
Summary: What happens when a normal person is suddenly thrust into an abnormal situation? After finding himself in the world of Code Geass, Matthew must learn quickly in order to survive. Luckily, he has the support and aid of the Second Princess of Britannia herself. Follow Matthew as he adapts to his new life in this strange and exciting world. Rated M for scenes in later chapters.
1. Chapter 1: A New World, A New Story

**AN:** Hi everyone, sorry I haven't posted anything in ages. I just haven't had any really good ideas.

Anyhoo, a little while ago I discovered these two amazing Code Geass fanfics; _Ripped Away_ and _Code Geass – A Brave New World_. Both stories deal with someone from our world suddenly finding themselves in the world of Code Geass, but I won't spoil the details for you (check them out yourselves, they're great reads!). After reading these stories, I was intrigued by them, since they used a concept I'd never considered, but I quickly found myself loving the idea. And this story is the result of that inspiration. Note that this story is a Self-Insert, based on myself.

For those of you that have read the aforementioned stories, you may notice some similarities between them and my story. While I have tried to keep mine as original as possible, there will be some similarities.

 **Update:** Just edited this chapter towards the end. I realised that Matthew being unable to find any mention of Knightmare Frames was a bit weird, so I've addressed that little issue. I hope to get the next chapter up some time this week or next week.

 **Update:** Replaced "Arizona" with "California, as the official Code Geass Wiki indicates Pendragon is located in South California.

* * *

" _The less routine, the more life."_ _– Amos Bronson Alcott_

It is likely that few of us have ever heard this particular pearl of wisdom, while even fewer have really grasped at its meaning.

Matthew Gavin was no exception. After twenty-one years of life, the young New Zealander was as set into his daily routine as any other, the only variations brought about by whether he was currently attending university or not.

Nothing about his appearance spoke of anything other than an average young man; standing 178 cm tall, with a fairly slim build, short brown hair (dark almost to the point of being black), blue-grey eyes and a fair complexion. A pair of plain glasses indicated a lack of perfect vision, in this case short-sightedness.

All in all, he found his current situation in life satisfactory, if a little mundane. His third year at university had just concluded, with another year left to go due to having failed a few papers along the way. Thus, he was soon busy searching for a summer job with which to occupy his time, and to earn some much appreciated money.

Little did he realise, his life would soon take a turn that he never could have predicted.

* * *

 **3** **rd** **Person**

It was a fairly normal, although slightly overcast Friday morning in early November, as Matthew left home and headed for his nearest bus stop. He'd just had a reply the previous night from a family friend, who said he had a few weeks work available, and was on his way to pick up a pair of general work gloves, as the work typically was hard on the hands. His attire was pretty typical; light grey cargo pants, black/yellow sneakers, and a plain t-shirt underneath a grey/white/black pixelated hoodie.

As was usual, his mind was otherwise occupied for most of the short, five minute walk. So it wasn't until he took another step that he realised something was off.

His footstep echoed…which meant he was no longer outside.

Stopping in his tracks, Matthew took in his new surroundings, growing more confused by the second. Instead of the plain concrete footpath, he now stood on what appeared to be an ornate marble floor, covered mostly by a beautiful scarlet red carpet. Looking up, the ceiling was much higher than most buildings he'd ever been in; at least two stories high. On his right-hand side were a series of large pane glass windows running almost floor to ceiling, while the walls to his left were a mix of marble half-pillars and the same scarlet red as the carpets, with elegant gold details

Turning several times, his mind racing in confusion, his eyes quickly settled on something; a woman, wearing a stereotypical maid's outfit, carrying a silver tray.

"Uh…" was all Matthew managed to utter.

The maid dropped the tray, which sounded like a hammer striking an anvil, and quickly turned tail, hiking up her skirt as she ran, shrieking _"_ _Intruder!_ _"_

"Oh god." Matthew muttered as he turned and started running. While he still had no idea what was happening, the fact he was clearly being considered an intruder was clearly not good.

Unfortunately, he'd barely managed more than a few hundred metres before a dozen soldiers wearing marron uniforms and carrying what looked like bullpup assault rifles burst through a door up ahead.

" _Freeze!_ " One of them commanded.

Matthew quickly skidded to a halt and threw his arms up in surrender, still having no idea what kind of situation he'd somehow gotten into. Instantly, one of the soldiers forced his arms behind his back, effectively restraining him.

"General, this is Sergeant Williams. We have apprehended an intruder in the west wing. What are your orders?"

The man nodded his head at the other, unheard voice's words, before responding with a "Yes, general."

The sergeant put the radio away. "Corporal Anderson, follow me. We're taking him to the interrogation room." He said, clearly referring to the man restraining Matthew. "The rest of you, head back to your posts."

Before he could react, Matthew felt himself being jerked backwards and made to walk down the same corridor he'd just run through. Before long, they approached an elevator built into a recession in the wall, which one of the guards opened with a key-card. Without much pain, Matthew was bustled into the elevator with the two guards, as the sergeant pressed a button for the basement.

They descended in silence before they reached their stop, Matthew being shoved roughly out of the elevator into a stark white corridor. They walked in silence, with the occasional shove by the barrel of sub-machine gun as a motivator to keep moving, until they came to a very ominous looking steel door. The soldiers deposited their guns in a recession built into the wall before one of them opened the door with a screech of metal on metal.

"Get in." One of them said, followed by a rough push, as Matthew was forced into the room. Making his way in, his eyes focused on the furniture: two chairs and a table, as the door was closed with a resounding 'clang'.

"Sit." One of the guards said, pointing at the chair, which the young man promptly sat in.

A few seconds later, one of the pair produced a pair of cuffs which tightly bound his wrists.

"Now then, just sit here and wait. My superiors will be along shortly." The sergeant explained, before he and the other guard left the room, leaving Matthew alone.

* * *

 **1** **st** **Person, Matthew's POV**

About five minutes after the guards left me on my own in this room, the sound of approaching footsteps snapped me out of my panic-induced thoughts. It seemed that the "superiors" the sergeant mentioned were almost here.

" _Not that it makes me feel any better. At least I'll hopefully find out what the hell's going on here."_ I thought, sitting fully upright. If anything, I didn't want to appear frightened, as it would almost certainly not help. Just then, the heavy door opened, and three people entered the room.

The first two were both men; one was very tall, easily a foot taller than myself, with short black hair, blue eyes and glasses and possessing a rather slim build. The other was slightly taller, somewhat brutal looking with a diagonal scar running across his face, and a much more imposing build. Both men wore similar marron-coloured uniforms as the guards from earlier, albeit with the addition of gold filigree. What really caught my attention was the woman who followed them in, who I could only describe as stunningly beautiful. She stood about as tall as me, with a large head of purple hair reaching down slightly past her shoulders. She wore a marron uniform like the two men, with the addition of a white cravat, boots and cape. Her indigo eyes stared me down, conveying an air of superiority I'd never felt from anyone before now.

" _I guess one those guys must be the "General" that guard was talking to, but I've got no idea which one of them it is. And this woman, who is she? Judging from what I saw upstairs, she must be pretty important."_ I thought to myself, as the woman removed her cape, handing it over to the bespectacled man, who then returned to his place behind her right shoulder as she sat down at the table, facing me.

"I must admit, it's quite a shock that you managed to get this far without being detected. Especially after what happened eight years ago. But it appears your plan to assassinate me has failed. Wouldn't you agree, terrorist?" she said, staring at with what could only be described as contempt.

"Wait, terrorist?! What are you talking about?! I don't even know where I am right now!" I shouted, before the bespectacled man stepped forward and smacked me upside the head, leaving my left cheek stinging.

"Watch your tongue, you insolent brat!" he roared. "When you address my princess, you will afford her the respect she deserves!"

" _Princess?! Crap, I had no idea! Although, I have no clue where I am, so it's not surprising."_ I thought. _"I'd better be more careful from now on, if I want to make it through this in one piece."_

"I apologise for my behaviour. Like I said, I don't know where I am, or who any of you are." I explained, addressing all three of them, before turning to the woman, whom I now knew was a princess of some kind. "With all due respect, may I ask who it is I am talking to?"

The princess' gaze softened slightly, but remained stern and focused. "Nice to see you have some manners. I am Cornelia li Britannia, Second Princess of the Holy Britannian Empire. And these two are General Andreas Darlton," she replied, gesturing to the scarred man on her left, "And Gilbert G.P. Guilford, my Knight." At which the bespectacled man o her right briefly bowed his head.

"I see. In that case I apologise, your highness. I had no idea." I replied, briefly dipping my head as well, making sure to keep my tone respectful. No easy feat, given how afraid I still was. "My name is Matthew Gavin. It's a pleasure to meet you." I saw a brief smile flash across the princess' face, but it disappeared almost immediately.

"Now that the introductions are out of the way, perhaps we can get to the problem at hand." Princess Cornelia said, resting her clasped hands on the table in front of her. "You claim that you're not a terrorist. Given the fact that you somehow ended up well within my palace and yet allowed yourself to be discovered by one of my servants tells me one of two things. Either you're telling the truth, or you have to be one of the oddest terrorists I've ever heard of." As she said this, the man who I now knew as Guilford stepped forward.

"If I may interject your highness, I believe he's telling the truth." He explained, as Princess Cornelia turned to face him. "This man was carrying nothing that could conceivably be used as any kind of weapon. In addition, he clearly has no idea where he is. If he were indeed a terrorist, it's likely we would never have known he was here until it was too late." Both the princess and General Darlton nodded their agreement.

""Yes, I suppose you're right, Guilford." Princess Cornelia replied, before turning back to me. "Very well, since we're all convinced you are being truthful with us so far, let's see if we can work out exactly what is going on here. I assume you will cooperate with us."

"Of course, your highness." I replied. "I'll help as much as I can."

"Excellent. Then let's begin. Darlton?" Princess Cornelia said, addressing the man behind her, who then produced a large, rolled up sheet of thick paper from behind his back.

" _Probably a map of some kind."_ I thought, _"At least I'll find out where I am."_ The general unrolled the map, which took up much of the surface of the table, so that it faced me. Immediately, I could see that while the continents all looked the same, meaning I was still on Earth, the borders stretching across them were almost unrecognisable. **[AN: I won't bother explaining the whole map of the Code Geass world. You guys can easily look it up if you aren't familiar with it.]**

"Now then, I thought we'd start with this, since you claim not to know where you are." Princess Cornelia explained. "We are currently within Gremory Palace, located inside Pendragon, the capital city of the Holy Britannian Empire." She explained, pointing to where the state of California should have been. Instead, all of the borders within North and South America were gone, indicating that this empire she spoke of somehow encompassed the entire Americas. Looking closer, I was shocked to see that New Zealand, while still possessing the familiar shape and name, filled with the same blue colour, marking it as part of the empire as well.

"I see, so that at least answers that question." I replied, unable to say anything more.

"Good, now perhaps you can show us where you're from." Princess Cornelia asked. I nodded my acknowledgment, before pointing to New Zealand. "So, you're from New Zealand, are you? Interesting."

"If I may, your highness?" I asked, to which she nodded. "It would appear that I've somehow ended up in a different world to my own. From what you've shown me, there's almost no similarities at all."

"Yes, we suspected as much." Princess Cornelia replied, noting the look of surprise on my face. "Before we arrived here, I had Darlton check to surveillance footage from the area where my servant spotted you. One moment the hallway was empty, and then suddenly some sort of distortion appeared, which then vanished and left you in its place."

After these words, I had to take a deep breath to try and calm myself down. I'd just learned that somehow, I was now in some other world, with no idea how I'd arrived here

"Forgive me, your highness." I replied, my voice a little shaky. "This is a lot to take in."

"I understand completely, Matthew." She replied, her voice now much more gentle. "I can't imagine what a shock this must be for you. Darlton, please remove the cuffs. I feel we won't need them any longer."

"Thank you, your highness. But I'm still able to answer any questions you may have." I replied, relaxing my previously tense shoulders, as Darlton swiftly uncuffed my wrists.

"I'm curious, exactly how is your world different from ours?" Princess Cornelia asked.

"Well, your highness, for the most part my world isn't that different from yours. The continents themselves are the same, as are the various islands. However, I can tell that the borders are very nothing like they are here." I explained, gesturing towards the map. "While the EU does exist in my world, it's purely a politico-economic union, although the member nations of your EU appear to be the same as they are in my world. Also, neither the Chinese Federation nor the Holy Britannian Empire exists. Instead, there are a number of much smaller nations in their place."

"Fascinating. It seems our world are very similar, and yet very different as well." Princess Cornelia mused.

"If I may ask, your highness, does Britannia have any ties with Great Britain?" I asked. "In my world, 'Britannia'was the ancient Roman name for the British Isles."

Princess Cornelia nodded in response. "Yes, it does. The Holy Britannian Empire was founded in 1807 a.t.b., when the Britannian royal family escaped to the North American colonies." She explained.

"If that's the case, then I assume that both the American Revolution and the war against Napoleon failed in this world?" I asked.

"Correct. The Britannian royal family fled here and shortly thereafter established the Holy Britannian Empire, which soon encompassed North and South America, while New Zealand was settled later, around 1840 a.t.b., although it is still considered part of our homeland." Princess Cornelia replied. "Well, I think that's all I need to know for now."

"Thank you your highness." I said, relieved that I appeared to have been let off.

"Now then, we need to sort the issue of what to do with you." Princess Cornelia said, causing me to nervously gulp. "Since you're from New Zealand, we can at least pass you off as Britannian. However, it would be unwise to send you out on your own, especially since you aren't familiar with this world. Did you have any previous occupation or ambitions in your world" she asked me.

"Well, your highness," I replied, "I didn't have any past jobs to speak off, seeing as I'm still at university. I had always wanted to join the army, since I've always had an interest in shooting and military history. But I didn't think I could pass the physical requirements and New Zealand never had a very large military to start with, so I never really followed up on it."

"Hmm, I see. Thank you Matthew, that gives a few ideas." Princess Cornelia replied, as she rose from her seat. Guilford stepped forward and replaced her cape, while indicating for me to stand as well. "For now, Darlton will show you to one of the spare rooms in the palace for you to sleep, until we sort out the particulars of your situation."

"Thank you, your highness." I replied, bowing slightly out of respect and gratitude. Princess Cornelia really seemed to be going out of her way to help me, so I felt it was the least I could do for her.

"As you command, my lady." Darlton replied. After this, all four of us left the interrogation room, Cornelia and Guilford leading, with myself and Darlton bringing up the rear. After a brief walk and a quick elevator trip, we emerged back within what I guessed was the main palace itself. Princess Cornelia and Guilford then separated from Darlton and I, presumably to return to the princess' office or her chambers in order to discuss my situation. Meanwhile I followed General Darlton, as he led me through several large hallways, before we arrived in a slightly narrower corridor, with many rooms on either side. The general stopped in front of one of the doors, so I guessed this must be the room the princess had mentioned earlier.

"You'll be staying in this room for now." Darlton explained. "It's still early in the evening, so I'd ask that you not leave this room for now. Either Lord Guilford or myself will come to collect you in the morning."

I nodded. "Of course General Darlton, and thank you. Is there anything else I need to know?"

"Nothing else that I can think of for now." He replied, though a small smile now graced his otherwise grizzled features. "There should be some spare clothes for you to sleep in, since these rooms are used by the palace servants. Just be sure to leave your current clothes out so we can dispose of them."

"Because my clothes would make me stand out too much, I take it?" I asked, feeling like I was catching on.

Darlton nodded. "Exactly, you're quite the sharp one. I think you and Guilford will get along quite well. Don't worry, we'll bring you your new clothes tomorrow morning. Also…" he explained, before reaching into his pocket and handing me what looked like a small data drive, not too dissimilar from a USB. "This drive will allow you to access our internet. I suggest you use some time tonight to learn what you can about this world, it'll help you blend in a bit better."

"I'll be sure to do that." I replied. "Good evening, General Darlton." He nodded, then headed off. At the same time, opened the door and entered to take in my temporary accommodations.

The room itself was not especially large, appearing roughly five metres along each wall, although it was certainly larger than the interrogation room from earlier. The walls featured a similar style as before, but with rosy brown replacing the previous scarlet red on the walls, albeit with the same gold edging. Raised marble cyma-style moulding covered the joins between the walls, while a plain marble skirting ran along the join between the walls and floor. A modest, four-poster bed sat against the wall to my left, positioned exactly halfway along the wall. Opposite the bed, a simple yet elegant desk rested against the wall, with what appeared to be a small desktop PC resting on its surface. A plain, but clearly comfortable chair was positioned under the desk, which would no doubt get some good use shortly. Across from the door I'd just entered through was the entrance to an en-suite bathroom, with a light floor-length curtain in place of an actual door. On the same wall was a large, white wardrobe and chest of drawers, likely containing the spare clothes Darlton had mentioned earlier.

" _Well, seeing as I've got nothing better to do, might as well see what there is to learn about this place. Should be quite interesting."_ I thought, sitting down at the desk. After turning on the PC, I plugged in the data drive the general had given me, causing a few small progress windows to appear on the screen, which promptly closed shortly after. A full-screen window now opened, with a stylised logo featuring the word 'BIGLOBE' appearing on the screen, a search bar just below it.

" _Must be their equivalent of Google, I guess"_ I thought, before commencing my first search.

* * *

 **3** **rd** **of January, 2017 a.t.b.**

 **9:57 pm**

About three hours later, I stopped to take a short break. I'd long since shed my hoodie and removed my shoes, which were now resting on the floor at the foot of the bed, seeing as the room was remarkably comfortable without them. So far, I was amazed at how different, and more importantly, how advanced this world was compared to mine.

According to what I'd found, the calendar used in Britannia, which used the label 'Ascension Throne Britannia' or 'a.t.b.' for short, was roughly 55 years ahead of the Anno Domini calendar, making this year (2017 a.t.b.) roughly equivalent to 1962 A.D. In addition, this world was currently dominated by three major powers; the Holy Britannian Empire, the Chinese Federation, and the European Union, or EU. Seven years ago, Britannia had declared war against Japan, in response to the island nation's decision to restrict the supply of Sakuradite, a rare mineral with superconducting properties, to Britannia. Amazingly, Japan had fallen to its enemy in less than a month, this stunning success made possible by Britannia's newest weapons, what they called "Knightmare Frames".

These Knightmares, called "Glasgows", were bipedal mechs, standing somewhere between four and five metres tall, based on the photos I'd come across, with a cockpit block extending from the back. They were armed with what appeared to be either handheld rifles or large, short-barreled cannons, along with a pair of rocket-propelled anchors fitted in between the main body and the shoulder joints. Despite being fully bipedal, it seemed that the Glasgows relied on what amounted to a pair of self-propelled roller skates attached to the outsides of the ankles for movement, which appeared to give them great speed and mobility compared to the tanks they had faced. Although I wasn't able to learn much more, given that the exact details of the Knightmares weren't available online, I was able to learn that the Glasgow had been replaced a few years ago by the new Sutherland model.

" _Well, I'm not surprised they were able to win so quickly, with machines like that. Looks like tomorrow could turn out to be a lot of fun."_ I thought. Another interesting find, was that firearms in this world, at least in Britannia, no longer used chemical propellants. The superconducting properties of Sakuradite had allowed most firearms to be designed so that they functioned essentially like a linear motor; a small piston motor was used to initially accelerate the bullet, while Sakuradite electromagnetic rails enabled even a pistol to achieve a muzzle velocity of 600 m/s.

" _I have to say, they've got some pretty impressive technology here. This is probably a good time to stop for now, I'm feeling pretty worn out."_ I thought, turning off the computer. After opening the chest of drawers, I quickly found a set of traditional light blue flannel pyjamas in my size. After quickly changing into them, I was surprised at how comfortable they turned out to be. I then set the rest of my clothes down with my shoes and hoodie, which I moved over next to the door so that they could be more easily collected. After turning off the light, I climbed into bed, falling fast asleep not long after my head hit the pillow.

* * *

 **AN:** And that pretty much concludes the first chapter. Please do review and let me know what you guys thought.

In case anyone thinks that I've written Cornelia slightly out of character, let me explain. My story is set roughly two months before the start of the first season. Therefore, Cornelia has no reason to suspect Matthew of being Zero. Also, anyone who has watched the show will have noticed that Cornelia is a very logical person, and does not jump to conclusions, which explains her calm and fair treatment of Matthew during the interrogation.


	2. Chapter 2: A New Day, A New Life

**AN:** Hello again, everyone. Sorry for the long wait, but I just haven't been able to really figure out how best to start this second chapter. For some reason, the second chapter always ends up being one of the hardest to write. You end up setting a number of expectations with the opening chapter, which then prove hard to live up to. Nevertheless, I hope this will be a worthy effort. Enjoy.

* * *

 **4** **th** **of January, 2017 a.t.b.**

 **7:36 am**

 **1** **st** **Person, Matthew's POV**

Anyone who's ever had a good night's sleep will no doubt be familiar with the fact that, often, they find themselves suddenly awake the next morning, without really knowing exactly when they woke up. That's how I found myself this very morning; waking up in the same modest four-poster bed I remembered falling asleep in the previous night. That's when I realised I was still here. Here, in this strange new world, the guest of a princess of an empire I'd never heard of.

" _Still, it's not exactly a bad thing."_ I thought to myself. _"If anything, I think I prefer this. My world was a bit boring sometimes."_ As I was thinking this, someone knocked on the door three times. I remembered that General Darlton had told me last night that either he or Guilford would be bringing me my new clothes this morning.

"Come in." I called out, climbing out bed as I did so. The door then opened, revealing the tall, slim form of Guilford. In his arms he carried a plain, white cardboard box, which I guessed contained my new attire. "Sir Guilford, good morning." I said, being sure to include the form of address appropriate for a knight in my world, assuming it was the same in this world as well.

"And good morning to you too, Matthew." Guilford replied, smiling slightly. "I trust you had a good night's sleep?"

"Thank you sir. Yes, I did." I replied, smiling back. "I don't think I've slept that well for a while. Which is odd, given the circumstances." To which Guilford let out a light laugh.

"Indeed, I suppose it is. But I doubt you should dwell on it." He replied, placing the box he carried on the side of the bed. "You'll find your new clothes in there. I'll be waiting outside, the princess wishes to speak with you before breakfast. "

"Of course, Sir Guilford. And thank you again." I replied.

"No need to thank me. And please, unless we're in the presence of others, call me Guilford. Otherwise, Lord Guilford will do fine." He said, before exiting the room. After letting out a yawn, I decided to check out my new clothes. Opening the box, I discovered by new outfit was some kind of uniform, not too dissimilar from what Darlton and Guilford wore. It consisted of a vivid maroon, knee-length high-collar uniform coat (or tunic), with thin black shoulder pads covering the tops of both shoulders, with a gold strip lining the end of each pad. The tunic was closed down to the waist, where it possessed an integrated black belt with a gold clasp. Below the belt (AN: No pun intended), the tunic was open and extended down to knee level. The edges of the tunic, as well as the front seam were also lined with gold fabric. The sleeves were full-length, extending down to the wrists, with thicker black fabric covering the last few inches down to the wrists. This black fabric also possessed two gold stripes, one at the very end of the sleeve and another an inch further up. Apart from the tunic, the outfit included a light white dress shirt, white trousers tucked into what appeared to be dressage-style riding boots, and plain white gloves.

" _I have to admit, whoever designed this uniform did a good job"_ I thought, as I quickly changed into my new clothes. Surprisingly, it was relatively easy to put on, even the boots, which were far longer than anything I'd worn before. And amazingly, I didn't feel too hot, despite the additional layers I was wearing. _"It breaths well too. Not bad."_ I thought, as I finished adjusting my new uniform, before exiting the room. Sure enough, Guilford was waiting for me across the hall. He nodded, apparently with satisfaction, at my new appearance.

"Well, it would seem your new uniform fits you perfectly." He said, smiling lightly again, as he started off down the hallway.

"I suppose it does. It's a lot more comfortable than I expected." I replied, keeping pace with him, not wanting to be left behind. Especially since I had no idea where we were going, and I really didn't want to risk being late. _"The last I want to do is upset a princess"_

Guilford nodded again. "Good to hear."

After a few short minutes, during which Guilford explained the general layout of the palace, in particular the route we were taking to ensure I wouldn't get lost in the giant building, we arrived in front of a set of white double doors. Stopping in front of them, Guilford tuned to face me.

"Now then, before we go in, there are a couple of things I need to mention. I think you greatly impressed the princess with your manners yesterday. So in the future, always address her as 'your highness' or 'my lady', unless she tells you otherwise. As for Darlton, always refer to him as 'General' or 'General Darlton'. Other than that, head up, eyes straight, and keep calm. Understood?"

"Yes, my lord." I replied, straightening myself up as I spoke. Satisfied, Guilford knocked on the door three times. The door opened, with General Darlton behind it.

"Your highness," he said, turning his head back inside the room. "Lord Guilford and our guest have arrived."

"Excellent, bring them in, Darlton." The princess replied. The general opened the door full, stepping to the side so that Lord Guilford and I could enter. The room was reasonably large, far bigger than the room I'd spent the night in. Marble plinths, some supporting busts, as well as portraits adorned the walls on both sides. At the end of the room was a large ornate desk, constructed from some dark wood, above which a flag was raised. The flag possessed a blue field with a red cross, over which was imposed a crowned black and gold shield, bearing a lion and snake. Princess Cornelia sat behind the desk in a similarly ornate yet comfortable-looking chair, reading over what looked like a file of some kind. Guilford and I approached the desk, with Darlton moving to stand to the princess' left side. Guilford then kneeled on one knee in front of the desk, his right arm crossed over his chest, his head bowed. I quickly did the same, not wanting to appear disrespectful.

"Your highness." Guilford said, his head remaining bowed.

"Rise, Guilford, my knight." Princess Cornelia replied. "You as well, Mr Gavin." I quickly stood up, keeping my head up, my sight focused on the princess. She slowly lent forward, her elbows resting on the desk, with her interlinked hands under her chin. Her indigo eyes gazed at me intently, before her gaze softened. "And how are feeling this morning, Mr Gavin?"

"I'm feeling well, your highness. Thank you for asking." I answered. "But please, call me Matthew. Being called 'Mr Gavin' makes me feel old." I could just faintly see her supressing a small chuckle.

"Very well, Matthew. Now then, the reason I had Guilford bring you here was to explain the situation to you, as well as your cover story." She explained. "Given what you told us yesterday, I believe the best course of action would be to enlist you as a member of my Royal Guard. Specifically, you'll be serving as one of my military advisors."

" _Woah, that's a pretty big responsibility."_ I thought. "As you wish, your highness."

"Good, now for the specifics." Princess Cornelia continued, the file open in her hands. "Your full name will be Matthew Vincent Gavin. You were born in New Zealand, on August 7th 1996 a.t.b., but lost both you parents to illness when you were three years old. You advanced quickly through school, and joined the military at age eighteen. You spent three years at a military academy, after which I selected you to join my Royal Guard based on your exceptional qualifications, and granted you the rank of Lieutenant. As far as anyone is concerned, you're a full member of the Britannian military, and thus you'll be paid as one as well."

I was silent for a few moments, as I digested the information that had been thrown at me. What stunned me was just how generous Princess Cornelia was being. What she was doing was incredibly risky, and would likely have severe consequences if anyone found out. And she was doing all this, for a common stranger? I knew exactly what my response should be. I knelt down before the desk as I had before, causing everyone's eyes to widen in surprise.

"Your highness," I replied. "I can't thank you enough for what you're doing for me. I'm honored that you, a princess, would even consider treating me with such generosity. I promise I will do whatever it takes to repay you for your kindness, and to fulfill the duties you've bestowed upon me as best I can. I am at your service, my lady."

"Well said, Lieutenant. Now please, stand." Princess Cornelia replied. Once I'd risen again, she continued. "I'm simply offering you support for your plight. I can't begin to imagine what it must be like to be in your position right now. While I happily accept your services, you have no need to feel obligated to repay me in any special way."

"Of course, your highness. And thank you." Princess Cornelia nodded, a smile now gracing her features, as she rose from her seat.

"Well, now that business is taken care of for the moment, I believe it's time for breakfast, no?" She asked, looking between Darlton, Guilford and I. The three of us chimed our agreement, as the princess headed for the door, with the rest of us in tow.

* * *

 **NA: Just a note, from here, I'll be referring to Princess Cornelia simply as "Cornelia", just 'cause it gets tiresome having endlessly repeat the word "Princess". However, I will still refer to her as such in the dialogue and thoughts when applicable.**

The four of us made our way down the hall; Cornelia at the front with Guilford at her side, with Darlton and myself bringing up the rear. It proved to be a rather long walk, and occasionally the princess would look back at me and give a slight smile, which I happily returned.

" _It's not every day you get an opportunity like this. I mean, how many people can say that they serve an actual princess? And she's gorgeous as well! I could get used to this."_ I thought, albeit slightly glad that I wasn't saying this out loud. I don't know whose reaction I feared more; Guilford's, or Cornelia's. I could tell that her beauty concealed a cold, calculating mind, and had no wish to be on her bad side. We continued our trip in silence, before a loud cry echoed down an adjoining corridor.

"Sister Cornelia!" Was what I heard, before a young girl with pink hair collided with Cornelia, wrapping her arms around the older woman who, somehow, managed to keep her footing. Given how unfazed she appeared, I gathered that this was a regular thing. Although, the fact that my own family would never be able to embrace me in the same way did make my eyes moisten slightly, though I was able to quickly blink it away. Besides, I could now get a better look at this new arrival, now that she'd stopped running.

Her pink hair hung down to her waist, with two buns on either side of her head. She wore a white and pink dress, with a rose necklace adorning her neck. Her eyes were a bluish violet, even more unusual than Cornelia's. She stood about an inch shorter than Cornelia, and possessed a similarly slim build. I also noted that she was also quite beautiful in her own right, though hers was a more cute beauty compared to Cornelia's elegant and refined allure.

"Euphemia! How many times must I remind you not to do that?" Cornelia replied, scolding the young girl, now identified as Euphemia. The young girl let go of her older sister, her hands now clasped in front of her.

"I know, I'm sorry. It's just that I ran into Guilford on the way to breakfast, and he said you had some business to take care of, and that I should wait in the dining hall, so I did, but you were taking so long, and I wanted to see what was taking long and…oh." She paused, having only just noticed me standing next to Darlton, thoroughly amused by the situation, although I managed not to let my amusement slip through. "So I take it this is the man you told me about last night?" Cornelia nodded, confirming her sister's suspicion.

"Yes, he is. Lieutenant Gavin, may I introduce my younger sister, Euphemia li Britannia, Third Princess of the Holy Britannian Empire." She explained.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, your highness." I said, bowing from the waist, which Euphemia returned with a slight curtsy.

"The pleasure is mine, Lieutenant. And please, call me Euphie. After all any friend of Cornelia's is a friend of mine." She replied, smiling sweetly at me. I couldn't help but smile back.

"Of course, you highne…er…I mean, Euphie." I replied, almost reverting to 'your highness' out of courtesy. "In that case, please call me Matthew."

"Of course. I think you and I will get along just fine." She said, while clapping her hands together in front of her chest, her smile never leaving her face.

" _I've never met anyone this happy before. Is she always like this?"_ I wondered, before Cornelia's voice brought me back to the moment.

"You'd better get along 'just fine'." She said, fixing me with her gaze. "Seeing as you'll be spending a lot of time here." I could detect an oh-so obvious threat concealed in those words. It said 'Make my sister unhappy, and I will personally castrate you!'. Okay, maybe it didn't say exactly that, but that was they impression I got.

"Understood, my lady." I replied, sending my silent message back. _"As if I'd ever do anything to upset such a sweet girl."_

Before Cornelia could respond, Euphemia grabbed her sister's hand, and proceeded to drag her down the hallway. Guilford let out an exasperated sigh, before moving to follow his princess and her bubbly little sister. Darlton and I smirked at each other before we too followed, silently enjoying the very entertaining spectacle before us. Soon we arrived at the dining hall, where a pair of butlers opened the large double doors to reveal a long, ornate wooden dining table lined with a few dozen chairs, with five places already set out. Looking around, I could see the room's décor was similar to that of the hallway I'd arrived in, with one wall comprised of towering windows, revealing a stunningly beautiful garden outside. Clearly, the princesses liked having a nice view while dining, and I certainly couldn't fault them for it. Cornelia took her seat at the head of the table, before indicating for the rest of us to do the same. Guilford and I sat on her right, with the bespectacled knight closest to her, while Euphemia and Darlton sat to her left, the p[ink princess sitting next to her sister. Almost immediately, one of the butlers appeared beside the table, seemingly out of nowhere, before handing each of us a small breakfast menu.

"Is her highness ready to order?" he asked, standing off to Cornelia's right.

"Actually, perhaps the Lieutenant should order first?" she replied, turning to face me.

"Very well, my lady." I replied, before quickly scanning the menu, which was filled with enticing options. Out of the many, I came across one that sounded particularly appetising. "I'll have two pieces of French toast with a side of bacon and grilled banana with maple syrup, and a glass of orange juice, please." The butler nodded, noting down my order.

The others followed suit; Darlton ordering eggs, sausages, bacon, also with a glass of orange juice, Guilford ordering a bacon omelette, albeit with a cup of tea instead, Euphemia ordering a simple cold bowl of cereal with orange juice, while Cornelia opted for an omelette and tea like Guilford, although she requested a mushroom omelette. The butler duly noted their orders as well, before disappearing just as quietly as he'd arrived, leaving the five of us alone for the time being. Almost immediately, Euphemia was chatting away animatedly with her sister, whose expression became kind and gentle, as befitting a loving older sibling. Darlton meanwhile had begun reading a newspaper I hadn't even realised he'd been carrying with him all this time. Guilford, however, turned to face me.

"Now then Matthew, I thought now would be a good time to explain our schedule for the day." He explained, with me nodding to confirm I understood. "Once we've finished eating, her highness has instructed me to take you out to evaluate your current skills, and to begin training you properly. I trust that you've already done some reading on what a Knightmare Frame is, correct?"

"Yes, my Lord." I replied. "General Darlton recommended I do a little research last night. I was curious anyway, so I took the opportunity to learn what I could."

"Good, that makes things a little easier. Of course, we will move on to Knightmares later today. But first, I'll be evaluating your firearm skills. As a member of the Royal Guard, you must be able to defend her highness at a moment's notice. Thus your marksmanship must be adequate." He explained.

"I see. That sounds like a good place to start." I replied. "I suppose it's good I'm already somewhat good at target shooting then, isn't it?" To which Guilford chuckled.

"Yes, I suppose it is. But I'll be the judge of that." He replied, flashing me a friendly smirk. "However, don't be so optimistic when it comes to your Knightmare training. Princess Cornelia chose me as her Knight for a reason."

"I don't doubt that, my Lord. However, don't expect me to go down without a fight."

"Good answer." Guilford replied, placing a hand on my shoulder. "That's the kind of attitude I like. I think we'll work well together."

At this, Darlton looked up from his paper towards Guilford. "Are you implying that you and I _don't_ work well together, Guilford? I'm hurt." He said, smirking. Guilford looked back at his colleague, smirking as well.

"Of course, Andreas, I would never say such a thing." He replied. Darlton seemed satisfied with his attempt at teasing Guilford for now, as the same butler from before entered the room, announcing that breakfast was served. A small group of maids followed, placing everyone's meals in front of them. I thanked one of the maids as she served me my food, to which she politely smiled back, before departing along with her fellow servants.

Breakfast ended up being a quite pleasant affair. Between Euphemia admittedly adorable antics with her older sister, as well as a quite enjoyable conversation with Guilford and Darlton, the hour-long meal seemed to fly by. Of particular interest was my previous life back in my world. I obliged as many questions as I could, although some not-so-subtle ribbing from my "audience" made me instantly regret some of my answers.

* * *

After breakfast, the two princesses excused themselves, with Cornelia asking Darlton to come with her. This left Guilford and I all on our own, before the knight announced that we would now get into our schedule for the day. The two of us left the dining hall, with Guilford taking the lead; partly due to rank, but mainly because I hadn't the faintest idea where we were actually going. It turned out to be rather long walk, as for obvious reasons the training area we would be using was situated away from the main palace building. To get there, we had to exit the main palace, and take a short ten minute walk to reach the entrance to the training ground. Once Guilford got us in, we headed into one of the numerous buildings which occupied the training ground, although it was by far the smallest. Once inside, I could instantly tell this was an indoor shooting range; much of the space inside was occupied by the actual range itself, with a dozen or so individual shooting bays positioned in front, with the targets themselves positioned roughly a hundred metres or so down range. The range was off to our right as we entered, with a number of rifles and pistols stored on wall-mounted racks along the wall opposite us and to our left. Guilford guided me over to the nearest weapon rack, and pulled one of the rifles off its rack. The gun was a rectangular, bullpup design, with the sights integrated into a carrying handle at the front of the rifle. Overall it was a compact, cleanly-built weapon, somewhat resembling a combination of an FN P90 and a FAMAS.

"This is the M15 assault rifle, standard issue to all Britannian infantry personnel. It's capable of both fully automatic fire and burst fire, and fires a 7x64mm caseless round. Rate of fire is around 1,000 rounds per minute, and it's accurate out to 300 metres." Guilford explained, before handing the rifle over to me. Taking the weapon with both hands, I was surprised at how light it was; despite its solid appearance, it felt like it weighed around two kilos.

"It's a lot lighter than I would've expected." I commented, to which Guilford nodded.

"Yes, I suppose it would be. I'm guessing in your world you still use chemical propellants, correct?" he queried.

"That's right, we do." I replied. Guilford nodded again, this time pulling out a couple of magazines from below the gun rack. At first glance they closely resembled those of the P90; a rectangular, semi-transparent box magazine, with a spiral feed ramp at one end. The rounds were stacked in two rows, positioned at 90 degrees to the line of the barrel.

"The M15 utilises these 50-round magazines. Since we're only testing you today, we'll start off with three full clips for now." Guilford then guided my over to one of the bays, setting the magazines down on the table. He then showed me how to load the magazine into the rifle, which also turned out to be very similar to the P90. He also ran me through the fire control selector (with three settings; S – safe, B – 5-round burst, and A – fully automatic fire), located near the trigger. "We won't need any hearing protection, since these guns aren't very loud. Start whenever you're ready."

I nodded, then assumed what I knew to be an effective stance; upper body turned slightly with my left shoulder facing towards the target, with my right leg poisoned slightly back to steady myself. I brought the rifle up, noting how it fit comfortable against my shoulder and how the sights were almost perfectly positioned. I focused the sights on the target, which in this case was a typical black human silhouette target, and began firing.

I'd already switched the rifle into burst fire, switching my point of aim between the head and chest regions, aiming roughly for where the vital organs would be located in a real person. As I continued firing, I marveled at how easy the rifle was to handle. The recoil was very light; no doubt a result of the use of electromagnetic propulsion, and perhaps some recoil-absorption system. The end result was that it was surprisingly easy to keep the rifle on target, even with the relatively heavy bullets it fired. Once the first magazine ran out, I quickly switched to the next. This time, however, I moved the selector to the fully automatic position, and resumed firing. This time, the recoil was more noticeable; while it still wasn't that great, I now had to put a bit more effort into keeping the gun aimed where I wanted. Not surprisingly, I burned through the second magazine a lot faster than the first, and soon was forced to switch to the last magazine I had left.

" _I'd forgotten how much fun this is."_ I though, as I started firing again, still in full auto, but this time limiting myself to short, manually-controlled bursts of fire. As I expected, the recoil was now easier to control, although still not as docile as in burst fire. Once the magazine was empty, I switched the rifle to "safe", before letting out a breath I didn't even realise I'd been holding in.

"Well done, Matthew. Let's see exactly how you did." Guilford commented, bringing the target back towards us, so we could properly see how I'd done. As the target reached our end of the range, I could see that I'd done even better than I'd expected; while a few rounds had strayed to either side, all of them had hit within the black silhouette, and the vast majority had landed exactly where I'd been aiming, either through the heart or the head. "I have to say, I'm quite surprised. I never expected you'd be this good."

"Same here, Lord Guilford." I replied. "I guess I'm used to guns with a bit more kick."

"Even so, I'd say congratulations are in order. Now then, let's move on." Guilford replied, before quickly retrieving a pistol from the nearest rack, along with another three magazines. "This is the M10 service pistol, issued to all Britannian officers. It fires a 7x32mm round, as opposed to the M15's 7x64mm round, and utilises a 13-round double-stacked magazine. Now it's crucial that you be particularly familiar with this, as it will likely be your only available option if you are required to protect Princess Cornelia or Princess Euphemia, Understood?"

"Yes, sir." I replied.

"Good, then let's not waste any time." He replied, handing the pistol and magazines to me, while he replaced the target, before sending it back down. Although this time, the target stopped at around fifty metres, rather than the full hundred. Not needing any instruction this time, I quickly started firing again.

Like the M15, the pistol has surprisingly low recoil, especially for a pistol, but was clearly harder to control. I ended up managing to fire roughly one or two rounds each second, while trying to keep my shots as accurate as possible. Once I'd finished, Guilford brought the target back again. This time, my shots where more scattered, but I was pleased to see that, as before, the majority had hit where I was aiming, while a few had missed entirely.

"Once again, well done. You're obviously not as used to a pistol, yet you still showed remarkable skill." Guilford mused, his tone full of praise.

"Thanks for the praise, Guilford." I replied, rubbing the back of my head sheepishly. "I'm a little surprised myself."

"Well, perhaps you just have a natural talent for this." Guilford said, as he put the rifle back in its rack, then collected the empty magazines. He came back with plain black belt and holster, along with three full magazines for the pistol. "You'll need to have your new pistol on you at all times, so you'd better take care of it now." I nodded, taking the belt and magazines from him. The belt fit snugly around my waist, while I decided to position the holster on my right-hand side. The pistol's short length meant it would be much easier to draw quickly this way. The loaded on of the new magazines into the gun, before switching the safety on and sliding it into the holster. The two spare magazines fitted into an ammo pouch on the left-hand side, which would allow for me to quickly reload if necessary.

"Seems like a good fit. Hopefully I won't need to use it anytime soon." I remarked. Although I was getting to realise my dream of being a soldier, I still felt unsettled by the idea of taking another man's life. I just didn't feel ready to do something like that. _"I guess every soldier goes through it sooner or later."_

Guilford nodded. "Of course, but given who Princess Cornelia is, you may need it sooner than you think." He replied, giving me a reassuring smile, which I returned. "Now why don't we put such unpleasant thoughts aside for now? Besides, we have to get you started on Knightmare training. The Princess prides herself on her force's piloting skills, and I intend to make sure you live up to this standard."

"Of course, Lord Guilford. I'll try not to let you down." I replied, as Guilford led the way back outside. Not far from the shooting range, we arrived in front of a building that looked sort of like a high tech aircraft hangar. Once inside, I finally got my first proper look at Britannia's most potent weapon; the Knightmare Frame.

The Knightmares, of which there were roughly a dozen, appeared to be Glasgow's, easily identified by their dirt brown-coloured, slab-sided armour, with the cockpit blocks painted coal-black. The units were lined up side by side, about ten metres apart along the length of the hangar. In front of each Knightmare was a set of large sliding doors, which probably opened onto an outdoor training area. Each Glasgow stood within a short metal gantry, with several technicians wearing dull orange jumpsuits working on each one.

"Amazing." I gasped, my breath completely taken away. Even though I'd already seen photos of these incredible machines, seeing them in person was something else. It was like when I'd seen a Spitfire up close for the first time in my world, only this was even better.

"Indeed. I felt the same way when I first saw the Glasgow." Guilford commented. "But don't be too amazed yet. Wait 'til you've had the chance to pilot one." As he finished speaking, a man wearing slightly more formal version of what the rest of the technicians were wearing came over to us. He quickly snapped off a salute, which Guilford and I both returned. I guessed he must be the chief technician, or something along those lines.

"Lord Guilford, Lieutenant Gavin, we've been expecting you. I trust you're both well?" he asked politely, a welcoming yet formal smile on his face.

"We are, Chief Paxton. Thank you for asking. I assume everything has been prepared as I instructed?" Guilford inquired. Chief Paxton nodded.

"Yes my Lord, everything's been set up as you asked. Both of your units have been equipped with Stun Tonfas only, no additional weapons. I don't suppose I can ask you to not do too much damage?" Paxton asked, giving Guilford a wry smile.

"We'll try, but I can't promise anything." Guilford replied. Paxton nodded, then indicated for us to follow him. The chief led the two pair of us over to the nearest two Glasgows, which not surprisingly had the most thorough checks being done. I noted the devices affixed to each forearm, which I now knew were called Stun Tonfas. Although possessing a small electric stun gun, the weapon's main feature was a thick, fold-out armoured tonfa, similar to the martial arts weapon, used mainly as a last resort, to bludgeon enemy units. Guilford thanked Paxton for his time, insisting we could handle the rest. Paxton nodded and returned to his duties, starting with shouting at a group of technicians further down that had apparently slacked off while he was busy helping us. "Well, after you Lieutenant. Head up to the cockpit and take a seat. Since we're only practicing today, we can do without proper pilot suits for now." Guilford told me, gesturing towards the gantry steps. I quickly followed his cue, climbing the gantry's metal steps while trying to keep my excitement at a reasonable level. I kept telling myself I was supposed to act like a professional soldier, not a kid in a candy store. Once I got to the top, I set myself down in the waiting pilot seat, the cockpit hatch already open, and got my first look at the Glasgow's cockpit.

As expected of an early model, the cockpit was fairly basic. There were four main monitors; one on each side at head height, and two more at the front, with one at the same level as the side-mounted screens, while the other was mounted above and at an angle, probably to give the pilot a slight view upwards. Below the front two monitors were three smaller, circle-shaped displays, most likely for providing other essential information. Just below the side monitors were what I suspected were the Knightmare's main controls, a pair of box-like control sticks, which when gripped would wrap around in front of the pilot's fingers. Each controller possessed four small buttons on the forward inside edge, and one large button on the top, almost certainly thumb operated. The controllers were each mounted on a thick, pipe-like rail, clearly allowing them to be moved forward and back to control the Glasgow's movements. Overall, the layout of the screens made me think of the interior of a modern tank, as the screens were in a similar position.

Once Guilford joined me, he knelt down outside the cockpit, and gave me a quick rundown on how everything worked. The two foot pedals operated the Glasgow's landspinners, each one controlling its respective side. This meant I could, for example, put more throttle on one landspinner than on the other, to help me turn faster. The two controllers, much like in a fighter plane, controlled the unit's direction and weapons. The system was similar to a tank; pushing the left one forward while pulling the right one back would turn the Glasgow to the right on the spot, while operating just one would turn the unit more slowly. The four small buttons were used to select which weapon to use, while the large button fired/operated whichever weapon was selected. The four monitors displayed the view outside from the Glasgow's head, while the lower front screen could also display other information, such as video communications (vid-com), maps, and other tactical displays. A pair of large orange levers was positioned next to the seat, one on each side, which operated the ejection mechanism. By lifting both levers, it would activate the system, ejecting the entire cockpit block from the Knightmare, which would then land via parachutes and an inflating raft on the underside. Guilford then handed me what looked like a larger than normal black USB drive, with a raised golden crest on it, as well as another device similar to a Bluetooth headset. The levers were raised at the moment, pushing them back down would move the seat inside and close the cockpit hatch.

"This is the Knightmare's activation key. It's basically like a car key; you need it to activate the unit. All you have to do is plug it in and input the authorisation code. The code for this unit is XF12-F1F3." He explained. "Once you're ready, close the hatch and start it up. You'll need to press the buttons on top of the controllers to deploy your landspinners. Then head outside slowly, so you can get a feel for how the machine handles. Once you've done that, I'll join you. That headset will allow you to answer your vid-com without having to use any of the controls." I nodded my understanding, and then Guilford climbed his way back down.

" _Well, let's get started, shall we?"_ I thought. I put the activation key in my lap for the moment and pushed down on the two ejection levers. With a slight hum, the seat slowly slid inside the cockpit, while the hatch closed up and sealed with a hiss, temporarily enveloping me in darkness, before the cockpit lights came on, bringing the light back to a comfortable level. At first it felt slightly cramped, but I soon found it was cosier than I'd expected. I quickly plugged the activation key in and slipped the headset over my right ear, and punched in the authorisation code.

 _XF12-F1F3_

At once the screens came to life, now showing the outside view, from the Glasgow's perspective. I could see the technicians had already opened the door in front of me, revealing a large concreted area. I gripped the controllers firmly, pressing the two large buttons like Guilford had said. The machine bleeped in response, a small message on the forward screen reading 'Landspinners Deployed'. Gently I pressed the pedals, and the Glasgow slowly began to move forward. Once outside, I decided to try moving faster. I pressed the pedals all the way, causing the Glasgow to shoot forward with a resounding screech from the landspinners' tires. I was surprised to find that the Knightmare wasn't too fast for me to handle. Grinning with excitement, I shoved the right stick forward while pulling hard back on the left. The Glasgow responded smartly, pulling into a sharp left-hand turn with ease. I quickly came to a stop, now on the far side from the hangar, just as another Glasgow came outside, almost certainly with Guilford inside. The other unit stopped a short distance from the hangar, facing me across the hundred or so metres which separated us. At the same time, my headset beeped softly, indicating an incoming call.

"Yes?" I responded, at which a small window popped up on the screen in front of me, showing Guilford sitting a cockpit just like mine.

[AN: I'll be showing all radio/vid-com dialogue in bold italics, _**like this**_ , okay?]

" _ **Looks like you've got a handle on moving around pretty quickly. That's good."**_ Guilford commented, giving me a friendly smirk.

"Yeah, it's a lot easier to handle than I expected." I replied.

" _ **Just keep in mind that the Glasgow is our oldest Knightmare currently in use, which is why we use them as training units. The Sutherland and Gloucester are a bit more of a handful if you're not careful, but we don't need to worry about that right now."**_ Guilford explained. _**"For today, we're just focusing on the basics of Knightmare combat. Think you're up for it?"**_ I ginned eagerly in response.

"That sounds like a challenge, Lord Guilford. But don't hold back on my account." I challenged. Guilford smirked in response.

" _ **Very well then, I won't. For starters, I'll charge you while you stay where you are. Your job is simply to avoid my attack any way you can, understood?"**_ Before I could respond, Guilford's Glasgow deployed both its stun tonfas and charged forward with a resounding tire screech, heading straight at me. I tensed myself, as the gap between our machines shrank rapidly, the other unit drawing back its right arm, ready to strike.

" _Wait for it, wait for it…"_ I thought, as Guilford was about to come within striking distance. _"Now!"_

Just as Guilford came within range, he launched forward with his Knightmare's right arm. As he did, I quickly dodged to the left, before grabbing hold of the arm with both hands. Then, using his machine's own momentum against it, I swung him around, throwing the knight away to left as hard as I could. Guilford quickly came to stop and turned back to face me again, as I panted slightly from the short adrenaline rush I was now experiencing.

" _Now that…was fun."_ I thought.

" _ **Excellent move Matthew, using your opponent's momentum against him. Good thinking."**_ Guilford announced a slight hint of praise evident in his tone. _**"I should explain that in combat, if your Knightmare loses its head, the ejection system is activated automatically. For training purposes, that feature is disabled, and if your head is destroyed, you lose. Keep that in mind."**_

"I'll be sure to remember that." I replied. "What's next?"

For the next few hours, Guilford ran me through all the basics related to piloting a Knightmare in combat. Initially, we just sparred using our stun tonfas, where my Glasgow very nearly lost its head almost immediately after we started. I quickly realised that close combat was obviously Guilford's speciality; nothing I tried at first could break through his guard. Eventually however, I was able to start landing the occasional hit on his Knightmare, but somehow a clean strike to the head eluded me. By the time three hours has elapsed, both of our Glasgows looked like they'd fallen off a cliff; dents and scratches covered almost every surface, while the heads were more or less untouched, although the head of my Glasgow sported a few scratches, the result of a few near-misses by Guilford. I started to realise that if I kept fighting this way, Guilford's greater experience would almost certainly keep me from winning.

" _Time to try something a little different."_ I thought as I dodged another well-aimed attack, a plan already forming in my head. As Guilford charged me again, I waited until he was almost on top of me, then dropped the Glasgow down on one knee, causing Guilford's attack to miss my head completely. Before he had a chance to back up, I wrapped my machine's arms around his unit's lower torso, before lifting it off the ground and leaning to the right, slamming its head straight into the ground. Despite impacting at a relatively low speed, the Glasgow's weight crushed the machine's head immediately on impact with the concrete. All the way through the attack, I could hear Guilford's astonished gasping, followed by a loud grunt as his Knightmare hit the ground.

"Guilford! Are you alright?!" I shouted, as I carefully lowered the Glasgow onto its side. The vid-com window opened up again, showing Guilford hanging to one side of his cockpit, with no visible injuries, which caused me to let out a sigh of relief. But to my surprise, the knight was actually laughing, despite the hard treatment he'd just gone through.

" _ **Hahaha! Well done, Matthew! I never expected you to pull off a move like that! Look like you win!"**_ Guilford roared, his laughter continuing despite his rather unorthodox position.

"I guess I did." I replied, grinning back at him while rubbing my neck sheepishly. "But really, it's not like I had it planned this whole time."

" _ **That's why I'm impressed. In a real battle, being able to come up with new strategies on the fly is an important skill. So you should be proud you were able to do it so quickly."**_ Guilford replied, having finished his laughing fit by now. _**"Now then, take your machine back to the hangar so the technicians can get to work on repairing it. I'll follow on foot, since this thing's fully shut down after that."**_

I nodded, before closing the link. I slowly made my way back to the hangar, as the fatigue from the last few hours finally hit me. Not surprising, given I'd been fending off a professional soldier the entire time. I backed the Glasgow into its bay, before unplugging the activation key and opening the hatch. As I stepped out, I could see all of the nearby maintenance crew looking right at me. As I looked back confused, a few started clapping. Soon enough the entire group was clapping loudly, causing me to blush in embarrassment from all the attention. As I climbed down to the floor, three of the men came over to me.

"Now that was some show! It's been a while since anyone pulled one over on Lord Guilford like that!" One exclaimed, offering me his hand, which I shook firmly while giving him a wry smile.

"Thanks for the complement." I replied, as the other two technicians walked past us and stared at the now-ruined Glasgow.

"Well you didn't half do a number on this thing, did you?" one of them remarked, while the other man sighed is resignation.

"I know it looks bad, but you should see the other guy." I replied, causing all three of them to burst out laughing. I was about to join in, when I spotted Guilford re-entering the hangar. Almost immediately the laughing stopped, as all the technicians tried desperately to look busy, hoping the knight wouldn't ask them anything.

"What was all that about?" Guilford asked as he approached.

"Just having a bit of a laugh at your expense, my Lord." I replied.

"Oh really, please do tell." Guilford said, eyeing me suspiciously. I quickly gave the rundown of the previous conversation, including my little jab at him. Guilford chuckled lightly at that particular part, so I could tell I'd got away with it this time. "I'll admit, you weren't wrong. Now then, it's just gone four in the afternoon, so we should report back to Princess Cornelia and inform her of your progress." At this, the two of us left the technicians to their work, and made our way back to the palace.

* * *

As we entered Cornelia's office, I was surprised to see that Euphemia was present this time, while Darlton was nowhere to be seen. The pink-haired girl smiled happily at our arrival, while her sister's expression was much more reserved. We stopped just in front of her desk, both of us standing at attention.

"At ease, both of you." Cornelia announced, allowing us to relax a bit. After all my hard work today, I felt like I needed all the relaxation I could get. "I take it you've finished training for today, Guilford?" The knight nodded in response.

"Yes, your highness."

"And how would you rate our young friend's performance thus far?"

"So far, I'd say he has a fair amount of natural talent. On top of that, he's clearly a quick learner. His proficiency with a gun is impressive to say the least, and don't believe he requires any further help from myself in that regard." Guilford explained. "In Knightmare combat, he's demonstrated a great deal of potential in such a short time. He's already managed to best me once so far, and I'll freely admit I never saw it coming." The princess' eyes widened at this revelation.

"You're saying Matthew was able to defeat you, my Knight?" she sked, to which Guilford nodded. Clearly intrigued, Cornelia now turned her gaze on me. "Please Matthew, do explain. I'm curious as to how you managed such an impressive feat." I nodded, before describing the incident as best I could. Cornelia listened intently, her expression shifting to a mixture of confusion and admiration as I described the move I'd used to win.

"And that's more or less what happened, your highness." I concluded.

"Well, it seems congratulations are in order. But I'm curious as to how you came up with such an unusual technique." She replied.

"Well your highness, I got the idea from one of the sports in my world, which we call rugby union. In that context, we refer to what I did as a spear tackle, where it involves the tackled player being lifted and dropped on their back, neck or head, which is why it's also illegal. Since the objective was to destroy the head of Lord Guilford's Glasgow, I decided it was worth a shot, especially as I suspected he wouldn't expect it." I explained.

"Well, I must say I'm impressed. I look forward to seeing how you progress in the next few days." Cornelia replied, an unusually warm smile gracing her features.

"Thank you, my lady." I replied, bowing slightly in response.

"Well, I think you deserve a break after all you've done today." Cornelia said, which I silently agreed with. "Guilford, since Darlton's busy with other matters at the moment, I'll need you to remain here."

"I live to serve, my lady." Guilford replied, bowing as I had earlier. Once he's finished, I decided to voice a question which had just popped into my head.

"Your highness, do you by any chance have a library in the palace somewhere? I can't really think of much else to do, and I've always enjoyed a good read." I asked. The older princess raised an eyebrow at this, before smiling slightly.

"Of course, I'm sure you'll enjoy yourself, seeing as I do keep quite the collection. I quite enjoy reading myself, I find it's very relaxing." She replied. At the same time, Euphemia practically started bouncing up and down with excitement.

"Oh! Oh! Sister, can I show him the library?! Please?!" she pleaded, clapping her hands together as she talked. I noticed Cornelia reluctantly sighing, as if in defeat. I'd already guessed she was the typical doting older sister, and she clearly found it difficult to say no to sweet little Euphemia.

" _Who am I kidding? If she was any sweeter, I'd need fillings by now!"_ I thought, waiting for the purple-haired woman's reply.

"Very well Euphemia, I suppose it wouldn't hurt to have someone who knows the palace as well as you show him the way. Just stay out of trouble this time, understand?" she replied. Euphemia just smiled, and proceeded to drag me out the door by the arm, with a strength I seriously hadn't expected a girl like her to have. It was only as she dragged me out into the corridor that I realised she hadn't even replied to her sister.

"Um…Euphie?" I nervously asked. "What did your sister mean by 'stay out of trouble this time'?" The young princess blushed slightly, her expression shifting to one of slight embarrassment.

"Well…I may have gone to the library without Sister Cornelia knowing…and accidentally…spilled tea all over her favourite novel." She nervously replied, now attempting to hide her face, while still dragging me behind her.

"That's it? I expected something worse."

"I guess my sister can overreact at times, but the book was a present from the late Empress Marianne, who Cornelia idolised an awful lot." She replied.

"Late empress? What happened?" I asked. Euphemia's face grew slightly downcast.

"It was eight years ago now. Empress Marianne was killed at the Aries by an unknown group of terrorists. My sister was in charge of security at the time, and had been told to withdraw her staff on that day, so she blames herself for what happened. Marianne's daughter, Nunnally, was crippled in the attack, losing her ability to walk and going blind from shock. Both Nunnally and her brother Lelouch were exiled to Japan as political hostages, but were killed during the war." She explained.

"I see. I'm sorry, I shouldn't have brought it up like that. So Lelouch and Nunnally were your half-siblings, right?"

"Yes, they were. I still miss them a lot. Nunnally was such a little firecracker. Hardly a day went by where Lelouch wasn't chasing after her, trying to keep her out of trouble." Euphemia replied, her face brightening up again.

"There we go!" I exclaimed. "Looking depressed really doesn't suit you, Euphie." I didn't think she could blush any more than she had earlier, but I was now proven wrong, as her cheeks reddened again, which was all I got to see before she turned away again

"Oh look, we're here!" she exclaimed, pointing ahead to a huge set of deep brown, wooden double doors. Clearly, no one around here believed in moderation.

" _Eh, moderation's overrated anyway."_ I thought. I moved in front of the young princess and tested the nearest of the two doors. To my surprise, the massive door was relatively easy to open, likely due to some hidden mechanism. After all, a royal princess shouldn't have to exert herself opening such a huge door.

"After you, your highness." I said, holding the door and indicating to her as I'd seen butlers do in countless movies and TV shows.

"Why thank you, Captain." Euphemia giggled, playing along with my little act. As I followed after her, I got my first look at the room.

The library was actually not as enormous I'd expected. The room was only one story in height, although the walls on both sides and on the same side as the door were mostly taken up by large bookcases, which themselves were built into the walls. On the far wall was a large set of windows with an equally large set of French windows (a pair of French doors, for those who may be confused), which opened onto a large rectangular balcony, complete with an elegant table and chairs towards the right-hand corner. Beyond the balcony were the palace's beautiful gardens, filled with flowers and other plants of various colours.

" _I have to say, Cornelia certainly has good taste."_ I thought. While I was busy admiring the room, Euphemia had already seated herself outside, a book currently open in her hands. Surprised at her apparent speed, I decided to try and find a book for myself. Browsing through the many shelves, I discovered the right-hand wall was entirely devoted to various non-fictional subjects. Figuring this was a good place to start, I proceeded to search the shelves for anything interesting. After a few minutes, a book on the technology behind Knightmare Frames caught my eye. Since I usually found books like this to be a good read, I plucked it from the shelf (it turned out to be a rather thick, heavy book, not unlike many such books back home) and headed out onto the balcony.

"So, did you find anything interesting?" Euphemia asked as I sat down opposite her, her tone laced with curiosity.

"I think so." I replied, holding the book up for her to see, before sitting it back down and opening it to the first page. "I always found stuff like this interesting in my world, and I can't see how things would be any different here."

"So I guess you're really interested in military stuff, huh?" she asked. I couldn't help noticing a slight shift in her voice, but couldn't work out what it was.

"Yeah, don't know why, but that's the way it's pretty much always been for me. Probably the main reason I wanted to join the military at some point." Euphemia looked back down at her book, a sad smile on her face.

"I see." She replied, a trace of sadness creeping into her voice, which made me feel really bad, since I was clearly the one who caused it.

"Is everything alright, Euphie?" I asked, concerned as to what I'd done to upset her.

"I just find quite sad. You've finally got a chance to do what you've always wanted to, but you've lost your home in the process. Don't you feel it's too much of a price?" she asked, looking me in the eye, her gaze filled with concern.

"When you put it that way, I suppose you're right. Certainly I would've preferred not to have to give up where I came from and everything I had, but I wasn't given that choice. So there's really no sense in complaining about it. Besides," I replied, smiling back at her. "I'm in an amazing new world, I'm the guest of two beautiful princesses, and I'm getting the chance to live out my dream. How many people can say that?" The young royal's expression changed back to that of the bubbly young woman she usually was, as I gave my reply.

"I suppose you're right, Matthew." She replied. As returned to my book, she piped up again. "So, you think my sister is beautiful, do you?" Startled by the unexpectedly forward question, I couldn't help but cough loudly, eliciting a small giggling fit from Euphemia.

"I-I beg your pardon?" I replied, silently cursing myself. Sometimes, being honest isn't the best thing. Especially when you're making passing comments about a princess in front of that same princess' sister.

"You heard me." She replied. Clearly, Euphemia wasn't about to let me talk my way out of this. At least her smile told me she _might_ not tell her sister about this, the key word being "might".

"Well, I really can't deny your sister's one of the most beautiful women I've ever had the pleasure of meeting, if not _the_ most beautiful." I explained, feeling my cheeks heat up slightly as I did so.

"Well, you're certainly not the first person to say that." She replied. "But unlike most people, I get the feeling you're being completely honest, which I appreciate. But I wouldn't try saying it to her face just yet."

"Yes, I can imagine how well _that_ would go down. I'd probably be executed for it."

"Maybe, but there's something that makes me think otherwise. Not sure what, but something about the way she described you when she was explaining the situation to me before. She seems to view you differently to how she views most people."

"Who knows? Maybe we'll find out someday." I replied, the princess nodding in response. After that, the two of us continued reading, occasionally pausing to ask each other various questions, mainly to learn more about the other. Euphemia was particularly interested in me personally, which surprised me. Then again, I was a commoner from another world, so why wouldn't she be curious? In the end, the conversation devolved into the two of us recounting funny/embarrassing stories about us and our families. Every time Euphemia laughed, either at something I'd said or something she'd said, it made me feel really happy. I began to see why Cornelia seemed to dote on her younger sister so much. You'd need a heart of stone not to want to protect someone so sweet.

"I've got to say, Euphie, I've always wondered what it would be like to have a little sister. And now I think I know." I stated, catching her slightly off guard, as evidenced by her now slightly flushed cheeks.

"Well, I'm glad that I could cheer you up so much." She replied, a bright smile on her face. "And who knows? If you play your cards right, that may just happen for real. My sister does seem to like you."

"Really? I find that hard to believe. Besides, she's a princess and I did only meet her yesterday."

"That may be so, but Cornelia wouldn't do so much to help just anyone. It may be small, but there's something there."

"While I appreciate the seal of approval, I think I'll stick to staying on her good side for now." I replied.

* * *

 **AN:** And…done! Again, I apologise for the long wait, but it's taken a while to nut out how this chapter was going to go. Hopefully I did an okay job, please let me know how I did. Apologies for the way I ended the chapter, but I wasn't really sure how else to finish. Besides, it's better than a boring "…and then I went to bed."-type ending, which I know I've always hated.

As a side note, this chapter comes to a total of 9,739 words, definitely my longest chapter to date. So all in all, I'm quite pleased. Once again, any and all feedback is appreciated, but flamers are not welcome. So only constructive criticism, please.

 **Anzac-A1, out!**


	3. Chapter 3: Prepare for Battle

**AN:** Anzac-A1 here, I'm back again with another update. Sorry it's been so long, but I've been pretty busy with University, so I haven't had much time to write. That and I've been a bit stuck on how to write this next chapter. But that's all over now, so I hope the following chapter is worth the wait.

* * *

 **11th of February, 2017 a.t.b.**

 **1st Person, Matthew's POV**

Roughly five weeks had passed since my still unexplained arrival in this new world, and I'd quickly found myself beginning to settle into life here at the palace. So far, most of my days had been pretty much the same; breakfast with Guilford, Darlton, and the Princesses, followed by training of various sorts with Guilford. After the first day, the Knight had alternated the focus of our training between Knightmare and hand-to-hand combat, which was an area where he really pushed me. As he explained, a Royal Guard was expected to be in top form at all times, both in and out of a Knightmare Frame. As a result, he'd promised to drive me as hard as he felt was necessary to achieve this. During the first week of this, my entire body would be sore at the end of each day, so I didn't really have the energy to do much afterwards. Eventually, my body began to grow accustomed to this new regime, and each day my body hurt less and less.

Apart from the physical sparring, Guilford had also stepped up my Knightmare training. After a couple of weeks with the Glasgow, he decided to move onto the model I'd actually be using in combat; the Fifth Generation Knightmare Frame, known as the Gloucester. Performance-wise, it was a world apart from the old Glasgow. It was much faster and far more agile, as it had been designed primarily to combat other Knightmares. As well as moving to a different Knightmare, I'd also begun training using actual KMF weaponry. I found the Slash Harkens to be very well thought out; although primarily meant to facilitate climbing walls and cliffs, they also served as very effective short-range weapons. At the same time, the standard Assault Rifle was even more impressive, providing surprisingly accurate fire, despite its firepower. However, I found that the weapon I was most comfortable with was the Assault Rifle, essentially a large, automatic low-powered railgun, with a large grenade launcher fitted above the main barrel. I found that I preferred it due to its flexibility; the rifle could tear through Knightmares and armoured vehicles with ease, and yet still possessed enough accuracy to allow me to fire on the move.

Aside from training/sparring with Guilford, I spent my time mostly reading various books from the palace library. Most times I was on my own, but occasionally Euphemia would join me. I found myself very much enjoying our conversation, as the young Princess proved to be a fun person to talk to, even when she insisted on teasing me about the relationship between me and her sister. Although I still held to what I'd said the first time she mentioned it, that the chance of there being anything between the two of us was non-existent, I couldn't help but notice that Euphemia appeared to be least partially right; Cornelia did _seem_ to treat me slightly differently to everyone else. It was always something small; a slight smile here, a brief lingering gaze there, things that I wouldn't have noticed if I wasn't looking out for them. But for the most part I disregarded these little things, assuming she was just being nice in light of my unique situation. At any rate, I would soon have other, more important things to worry about. Although I didn't know it yet, things were starting to move forward at a rapid pace, and I would swept up right in the middle of it all.

* * *

 **11:46 am**

 **Gremory Palace, Saint Darwin Street, Pendragon**

"So Guilford, do we know what's going on?" I asked, as the two of us made our way through the palace, heading for Cornelia's office. I'd been enjoying a rather interesting book on Britannian History, when the Knight had come in, explaining that the Princess had summoned us to her office. Guilford shook his head in response to my inquiry.

"No, her Highness has not yet informed me as to why she requested our presence. Although seeing as you, Darlton and I have all been summoned, I'd wager it's very important." He replied.

"I see. Well, I guess we'll soon find out." I replied, as we arrived outside said office. Guilford entered straight away without knocking, clearly knocking wasn't necessary since Cornelia had requested our presence _now_. Once inside, we found Darlton already standing in front of Cornelia's desk, with the Princess herself slowly pacing back and forth behind her desk, her features set into a look of seriousness. Guilford and I stepped forward, stopping as we drew level with Darlton.

"Your Highness, I've brought the Lieutenant, as you requested." Guilford announced, snapping off a quick salute, forgoing the usual bow. Cornelia finally stopped pacing, and turned to face the three of us, her face not relaxing even the slightest.

"Excellent, I apologise for demanding your presence on such short notice." She replied.

"If I may, your Highness," I asked, hoping I wasn't overstepping my bounds, "What exactly is happening?"

"Of course Lieutenant, I understand all of you are wondering what is going on, but I felt it was best to have you all here first." She replied. "The Emperor has requested an audience with us. For what, I don't yet know. But he has made it clear that he expects us as soon as possible." As soon as the words were out of her mouth, I found myself suddenly feeling very nervous. From what I'd learned during my time here, Charles zi Britannia was an intimidating figure to say the least.

" _Come on Matthew, get a grip! He may be an Emperor, but he's still a person. If Cornelia's right, then no one outside of this room knows who I really am, apart from Euphie. So I've got nothing to worry about._ "

"I see." Darlton mused. "In that case, we'd best be on our way."

"Quite right. We shouldn't keep my father waiting." Cornelia replied, striding out from behind her desk. "I've already had the car prepared, so there's no need to waste time. Let's go."

"Yes, your Highness." The three of us answered, following the Princess through the doors, Guilford to her left, with Darlton and me just behind them. After a relatively short, brisk walk, we emerged through the palace's enormous front doors out into an equally large courtyard, where a limousine-style car was already waiting. It was an unmistakably-royal vehicle; all white with golden detailing and decoration where I would've expected to find polished chrome. As we approached, the driver obediently opened the passenger door for Cornelia, who nodded before stepping aboard, with the rest of us following her. As we sat down, I was surprised, both by how comfortable the interior was, and also that it wasn't as ostentatious as I would've expected. Sure, the upholstery was clearly extremely high quality, as was the trimming, but otherwise it was relatively simple. Clearly, Cornelia had no interest in unnecessary decadence. Everyone was pretty quiet, as the driver started up the car and pulled away.

* * *

Overall, the ride was short and uneventful; Cornelia had a distant look in her eyes, most likely trying to work out exactly why she'd been summoned on such short notice, while Guilford and Darlton appeared to be doing them same. Me? I was occupying myself by gazing out the window as the scenery passed by. I was still new here, so it was all pretty bewildering to me. I mean, Pendragon is right in the middle of Arizona, and yet the Britannians had managed to create a swath of green that made New Zealand in my world look like a desert.

" _Then again, I guess not much is impossible when you're royalty."_ I thought.

After about twenty minutes or so, our destination, the Imperial Palace, came into view. I'd thought Gremory Palace was big, but this place was gigantic, easily five times bigger, if not more so. It dwarfed all the buildings around it, making them look like toys by comparison.

" _Apparently, the Emperor hasn't heard of moderation. Still, I've got to admit, it is impressive."_ I thought to myself, as the car entered the palace's vast grounds. Shortly thereafter, the car pulled up outside a set of doors that matched the building which housed in both scale and grandeur. The driver swiftly opened the door, allowing first Cornelia and then Guilford, Darlton and I to disembark. Entering through the massive doors, we made our way along a vast hallway, where I had to crane my head back just to look at the ceiling. Eventually, we arrived in front of perhaps the most lavishly decorated set of doors I'd ever seen, with two Imperial Royal Guards standing beside them. From what I could see, the doors were solid metal, embellished with elegant engraving and gold inlay. As I was admiring this fantastic display of craftsmanship, the doors themselves slowly opened with surprisingly little noise. Inside, I could make out a long carpeted central aisle leading up towards a throne which was slightly too far away to see clearly, flanked on both sides by dense crowds of what I assumed were various members of the Britannian nobility. Cornelia steeped inside without hesitation, the rest of us following. As the massive doors closed again, another guard to our right glanced to Cornelia and drew in a deep breath.

"Announcing Princess Cornelia li Britannia, Second Princess of the Holy Britannian Empire, and Chief General of the Imperial Army! Also announcing her Knight, Sir Gilbert G.P. Guilford, General Andreas Darlton, and Lieutenant Matthew Gavin!" he proclaimed, his voice unexpectedly loud given the size of the room. I vaguely noticed a few of the assembled nobles raise their eyebrows at my name, which, while not too surprising, didn't make me feel any less nervous. I was just grateful I wasn't on my own. As we slowly made our way along the central aisle, I could faintly hear a myriad of voices murmuring around us. Unsurprisingly, the main topic appeared to be that of myself.

" _Who is he? I've never heard of the name 'Gavin' before."_

" _A mere peasant, no doubt."_

" _But to allow a mere commoner to be so close to an Imperial Princess is just disgraceful!"_

" _And yet they say Princess Cornelia chose him herself. And if that's true, then…"_

" _Hush, watch what you say! Only the Emperor may question such things."_

" _Guess I shouldn't be too shocked."_ I thought. _"Britannian society revolves around 'survival of the fittest', after all. Let them complain if they want."_ The whispering gradually tapered off as we approached the throne, and I was now able to get a better look at the man who resided upon it; Charles zi Britannia, the 98th Emperor of Britannia.

He was a very imposing figure; very muscular and well-built, not unlike Darlton, but somehow his added status served to enhance the effect. His piercing violet eyes were contrasted greatly by his long white hair, done in Renaissance-style curls. As we reached the steps before the throne itself, Guilford, Darlton and I stopped and knelt down on one knee, while Cornelia continued for a few more steps before doing the same.

"Hail, your Majesty! I, Cornelia, have arrived as per your request. What would you ask of me?" she announced, her voice as strong and confidant as ever. Despite this, the Emperor's expression did not shift even slightly.

"I see. As punctual as ever, Cornelia." He replied. "I assume you've heard about the recent developments in the Middle East?"

" _The Middle East? So, that place is a problem, even in this world."_ I thought.

"I have, you Majesty. Several Arab nations, along with a few others, have joined together and are now calling themselves the Middle Eastern Federation, in response to our increased presence in the region." Cornelia replied.

"It is as you say. However, we have received reports from our forces that they have already begun building up their own military, apparently in futile effort to assert themselves. They have also started to assemble their forces along the borders with our territories as well." He explained. "I cannot allow this blatant act of aggression against us to go unpunished! Therefore, as Emperor I hereby declare war against the Middle Eastern Federation! Princess Cornelia, you and your forces are to depart for the Middle East at once! Show these impertinent fools what happens when they dare to defy Britannia!"

"Yes, your Majesty!" Cornelia replied, rising to her feet, with myself, Guilford and Darlton following suit. "All hail Britannia!"

"All hail Britannia! All hail Britannia!" We all chorused, with Guilford, Darlton and I adopting the Britannian one-armed salute, which was so like the Nazi salute it was uncanny, the Royal Guards doing the same. As we turned to leave, the Emperor spoke once more.

"You there, Lieutenant." The four of us froze at these words, while I quietly gulped out of slight fear, before turning back to face him. I made to kneel again, but Charles raised his hand, indicating for me to remain standing.

"Yes, your Majesty?" I replied, somehow managing to keep my voice confident and steady.

"So, _you_ are latest member of Cornelia's Royal Guard I've been hearing about?" he said, his voice filling the massive room. "I must say, I expected someone more…impressive, and certainly not as young."

Clearly, the Emperor was trying to play some kind of game, but for life of me I couldn't figure out what it was. From the quiet murmuring behind me, I could tell the nobles were paying even closer attention, no doubt because their Emperor was asking the questions they themselves were afraid to.

" _In that case, I hope they listen closely"_

"I apologise if I have failed to meet your expectations, your Majesty." I replied, inclining my head briefly.

"Hmph, normally I'd be questioning the rationale behind one of my commanders allowing someone like you to have such a position. However, given Cornelia's loyal and exemplary service, I have learned to trust her judgement on such things." He replied. "I trust I don't need to explain the price of failure."

"Of course, your Majesty." I replied.

"Very well, you are dismissed, Lieutenant."

* * *

It wasn't until we sat back down inside the car that had brought here, and my now slightly wet dress shirt touched my skin, that I realised how much I'd been sweating while we'd been inside. I was even more surprised that I'd managed to somehow keep calm enough to not realise this until just now.

"Well, that was…fun." I commented, eliciting a booming laugh from Darlton and an amused chuckle from Guilford, while Cornelia simply smirked in response.

"That's one way of putting it." Darlton chuckled. "Honestly, I'm surprised you were able to keep your voice steady."

"I must admit, I wasn't expecting my father to call you out like that. I have to congratulate you on staying as composed as you did." Cornelia said, while a smile tugged at the corners of her lips. "At least it seems that our little ruse is working."

"Thank you, your Highness. Although I hope you'll understand that I'd rather not have to do that again any time soon." I replied, smiling weakly. Of course, another bout of laughter ensued, with even Cornelia letting out a soft laugh herself.

"Well, given the orders we just received, I'd say you'll be getting your wish. In any case, we have work to do." She replied, her voice becoming serious again. "Guilford, once we arrive back at the palace, contact the rest of my Royal Guard and have them prepare for departure immediately"

"Understood, your Highness." Guilford replied. Cornelia nodded.

"Darlton, contact Edwards Air Force Base. Tell them we will be departing for the Ismailia Air Force Base in a matter of hours. I want all of the Knightmares loaded onto the transports and their pilots ready to depart before we arrive."

"As you command, my lady."

"Lieutenant," she continued, turning to me. "I have no orders for you at the moment, so you'll remain with me while Guilford and Darlton organise our forces and transportation."

"Understood, your Highness." I replied.

* * *

 **3:41 pm, Edwards AFB, California**

"Princess Cornelia, we're arriving at the base entrance now. General Darlton reports that all preparations for your departure are complete." The driver explained, as the car pulled to a stop in front of the Edwards Air Force Base checkpoint.

"Excellent, then proceed inside at once." Cornelia replied. "And thank you for the comfortable trip."

"At once, your Highness. A pleasure to be of service." The driver replied. One thing I had noticed about Cornelia was that she was not above thanking her staff for performing their duties well, and that she genuinely meant what she said.

While Guilford, Cornelia and I had finished our preparations back at the palace, Darlton had gone on ahead to the base in order to oversee the final preparations and make sure everything was ready when we arrived. Our preparations hadn't taken long; I had no real packing to do, other than some spare uniforms, my pistol and a few other…basic items. Apparently, we'd be using Boeing C-170 "Valkyrie" heavy transports to move the Knightmares and their pilots, while the rest of us, Cornelia, Guilford, Darlton and I would be following in a much smaller Embraer Legacy 600 Imperial Shuttle. Our flight would take us east, over the rest of mainland Britannia, then across the Atlantic Ocean and North Africa. Not only was this the shortest route possible, it would keep us from overflying Chinese Federation territory. Although not as technologically advanced as Britannia, the Chinese Federation boasted the largest population in the world. Thus, neither side was very eager to antagonise the other if they could avoid it.

As the car pulled into the base itself, I could see the transports themselves lined up outside the main hangers. Each plane had a pair of massive, shoulder-mounted wings, the roots of which stretched almost the entire length of the main fuselage, with each wing mounting four large engines. The planes also featured a heavy defensive armament of seven twin-gun ball turrets; three along each side and one in the nose, just ahead of the cockpit. I could see that each aircraft was already fully prepared, with the one closest to use just raising its loading ramp. I also spotted what I guessed was our plane, already lined up on the taxiway ready to roll, with Darlton standing nearby. The car came to a stop next to the shuttle and the three of us climbed out, with Cornelia taking the lead.

"Princess Cornelia, all of the preparations are complete. We've finished loading the transports, and are ready to leave on your order." He explained.

"Good, then let's not waste any time." Cornelia replied, proceeding to make her way over to the plane, with the rest of us in tow. The driver of the car helped a pair of the flight crew unload our bags, before beginning his trip back to the palace. As we stepped aboard, I could see this was definitely a plane befitting a member of royalty; plush leather seats, elegant tables, wall-mounted TVs, beautiful wood paneling, as well as a drinks bar contained within the main cabin area, with what I guessed were additional compartments towards the rear of the plane.

"If you want to get some sleep on the way," Guilford said, indicating the door at the back on the cabin, as the crew stowed our luggage in the overhead compartments. "There are beds down the back. Or you can just sleep in your seat, if you want."

The intercom then crackled into life. _"Ladies and gentlemen, this is your captain speaking. If you could please take your seats, we're now ready for take-off."_ The four of us took our seats, with me choosing a seat on the starboard side, facing forward behind one of the tables for myself. As we sat down and buckled ourselves in, I could hear the plane's engines starting up. The sound was pretty unusual for me; a very high-pitched noise, not unlike some of the craft in Star Wars. I'd read that Britannian aircraft typically used electric-powered plasma propulsion motors, so the weird sound sort of made sense. It was certainly a nice change from the roaring jet engines of my world. The plane gently began to roll forward, the engine noise increasing in volume, as the aircraft rolled onto the runway.

" _Tower, this is Imperial Shuttle Two-Foxtrot-Charlie, requesting take-off clearance."_

" _Imperial Shuttle Two-Foxtrot-Charlie, this is the Tower. Roger that, you are cleared for take-off. Have a safe flight."_ The shuttle then started moving again, rapidly building speed judging from my view out the window. In a matter of seconds, the plane lifted off the runway, as we began our long trip to the front lines.

* * *

 **AN:** Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand…we're done! Sorry for the long wait, everyone. I just haven't had the urge to write very much for a while now. If this chapter seems a bit bland, it's cause I wasn't really sure how I wanted it to go. However, the next chapter finally gets into some much-needed action, so hopefully that will turn out a lot better.

 **AN #2:** This is just to explain the two aircraft that feature in this chapter:

 **Boeing C-170 Valkyrie** – This plane is the large, four-engined Britannian transport plane seen in Episode 5 of the first season, taking General Bartley back to Britannian as a prisoner. I based the designation on the C-17 Globemaster III.

 **Embraer Legacy 600 Imperial Shuttle** – I chose to use this rather than the shuttle designs seen in the actual show, because I wanted something different. It's based on the Embraer Legacy 600, which I chose for its nice lines.

 **AN # 3:** Also, can anyone work out the meaning behind this story's title? If you can, you'll get a mention in the next chapter!


	4. Chapter 4: Battle in the Desert

**AN:** Back with another update, which thankfully didn't take anywhere near as long as the last one, which I'm sure you're all glad about. Big thanks to **A.D. Fields** , author of _Ripped Away_ , for allowing me to bounce a few ideas off him and get his expert opinion.

Also, a small shout out to **KaitoTheSingleExistence** , whose guess about the meaning of this story's title was almost exactly right. But don't worry, I won't spoil the surprise. I'll make sure to explain at the end of the relevant chapter, just in case you guys don't spot it. It is a pretty in-depth thing to figure out.

Anyway, enough rambling from me. Let's get straight into it.

* * *

 **11th of February, 2017 a.t.b.**

 **1st Person, Matthew's POV**

 **10:26 pm**

 **Somewhere over the Atlantic Ocean**

It was about halfway into the flight, while we were still crossing over the Atlantic Ocean. Cornelia, Guilford and Darlton had all retired to bed by that point, leaving me sat by myself in the main cabin. Not unlike how I usually was back home, I just didn't feel particularly tired yet. That or I just couldn't sleep because I was too busy thinking about what we were likely heading into. Unlike the others, I'd never been involved in anything worse than what qualified for me as a schoolyard fight, much less an actual battle between actual armies.

Because of this, I found myself reviewing all the latest intelligence reports that had been compiled regarding the Middle Eastern Federation's military strength and movements along the border area, using one of the table-mounted computers. For the most part, their forces were comprised of entirely conventional units, primarily main battle tanks, infantry and light VTOL gunships. However one part of the report made for far more interesting reading.

The Federation had apparently managed to design and produce its own Knightmare Frame, although calling it such was a stretch. Standing over eleven metres tall and weighing a little over ninety metric tonnes, the design, codenamed "Bamides", was more akin to a land battleship design from the 1920s-1930s than a Knightmare. The design consists of a large torso set on top of three legs in a tripod configuration, with two legs at the front and a single leg at the rear. Despite its somewhat unusual design, the Bamides boasted some rather impressive features. Its principle armament was a single, large caliber artillery cannon, clearly designed to take out heavily armoured targets at long range. At the same time, it also sported a pair of side-mounted machine guns and two packs of missile launchers on its back. In addition, it utilised hover engines for movement, giving it excellent mobility over sandy terrain.

" _These things could definitely cause us some real problems. The terrain around the border area is almost entirely flat desert, which gives the Bamides an enormous advantage. They can start firing on us long before we can start firing back. And if they can force us to attack them head-on, then our own tanks will be wiped out in no time."_ I thought.

And if the Bamides weren't enough of a problem, the last part of the report made things even worse. While the Bamides were formidable, they had clearly not been designed with anti-Knightmare combat in mind. Their long-range cannons would be virtually useless against such mobile targets, while their machine guns and missiles were only slightly more suitable. However, Britannian Intelligence operatives based in the E.U. had discovered that the Europeans had secretly been developing their own Knightmare Frame, and had potentially supplied some to the Federation.

From what the operatives had managed to learn, the E.U. Knightmare was referred to as the "Panzer-Ameise", which in English translated as "armoured ant" or "tank ant". Although shorter than Britannian Knightmares, the Panzer-Ameise weighed almost a full tonne more, due to possessing very heavy armour. It was armed with just two anti-tank guns, fitted in place of normal forearm units. Although this limited the Panzer-Ameise to primarily ranged combat, the selection of the anti-tank guns, which possessed a reasonable rate of fire, would give the Knightmare very good defensive capabilities, especially if a number of them were to coordinate their fire. Unfortunately, while the intelligence operatives had confirmed the Federation had received a number of Panzer-Ameises from the EU, they'd been unable to discover exactly how many units had been delivered.

" _If these reports are true, then we can only hope there aren't many of them. If the Federation was to deploy a large group of Panzer-Ameises to engage our forces and keep them pinned down, at the same time they could position the Bamides well behind the front line and use them to provide heavy support fire. And if that were to happen, I don't see how we could win."_ Deciding that it was no good worrying myself about the issue any further, I shut down the computer I'd been using, which hid itself away inside the table. I couldn't be bothered with making the short trip to one of the beds, so I just reclined my seat back and closed my eyes, drifting off to sleep shortly after.

* * *

 **12th of February, 2017 a.t.b.**

 **1st Person, Matthew's POV**

 **6:21 am**

 **Near Ismailia AFB**

" _Ismailia Tower, this is Imperial Shuttle Two-Foxtrot-Charlie on final approach. Please confirm."_

" _Copy, Imperial Shuttle Two-Foxtrot-Charlie, this is Ismailia Tower. We have you confirmed on final approach to Runway 1-1."_

I yawned slightly as I adjusted myself in my seat, while buckling in for the landing. I'd had a fairly good sleep despite electing to sleep in my seat, and had just woken up a few minutes ago. By then, Cornelia and the others had woken up as well and already seated themselves, with Guilford sitting across the table from me.

"Good morning, Matthew. Sleep well?" he asked, flashing me a friendly smile.

"Morning to you too, Guilford. Surprisingly, I did, despite staying up 'till after ten." I replied, failing to suppress another small yawn.

"May I ask why you were up so late?" Guilford inquired.

"Just looking over the intel reports. At least I've got an idea of what to expect." I replied.

"What did the reports say? I haven't had a chance to read through them myself." Guilford asked, his expression hardening slightly. I gave the knight a quick rundown of what I'd read, focusing on the key parts of the reports, as I noticed Cornelia and Darlton were also listening. He seemed to pay particular attention when I began talking about the MEF's Bamides, but was surprised when I explained about the E.U.'s involvement.

"I suppose we should've expected this. But still, it's surprising that the E.U. would lend support to such a new nation so quickly." Guilford stated.

"Well, given that they've seen how effective Knightmare Frames are, they'd want to see how theirs perform in real combat as soon as they can. And it's not like anyone can accuse them of aggressive action, since all they're doing is selling weapons" I commented, to which the Knight nodded.

"True enough. And whatever the case may be, those new Knightmares could present a big problem for us." Guilford replied.

"Guilford, my Knight, are you saying you doubt my chances?" Cornelia asked, her voice stern, though I could detect a trace of good-natured jest as well.

"Of course not, your Highness. It's just that this is the first time we've faced other Knightmares in combat. While they may not be as capable as our Knightmares on paper, I can only guess how they'll perform in battle. I suggest we exercise a degree of caution until we know exactly what we're dealing with." Guilford replied.

"True, this will be different to all of our previous battles. And your concern is noted. But our enemy will still be defeated" Cornelia replied, before turning to me. "Thank you for that report, Lieutenant. Good to know you're on top of things."

"Not at all, your Highness. I just wanted to make sure I wasn't unprepared. And I'll do my best not to let you down." I replied.

Cornelia smiled faintly. "It's your first time in actual combat, so no one's expecting a miracle from you. And given how your training with Guilford has been going, I'd say you have nothing to worry about. Besides, for the most part you'll be remaining with myself on-board the G-1, unless you're needed." She explained.

"I understand." I replied. I couldn't fault Cornelia's reasoning. Unless it was absolutely necessary, there was no point in sending a novice like myself into battle, especially not when the Princess had plenty of experienced soldiers to call on.

* * *

 **8:40 am**

 **Ismailia AFB, Main Briefing Room**

Just under two hours later, the four of us were currently standing inside the base's pretty sizeable main briefing room. It had taken surprisingly little time for our shuttle and the numerous transports to land, although it thankfully turned out that the process of unloading everything apparently didn't require our attention. Instead, Cornelia had made her way straight here, with Guilford, Darlton and myself in tow. We were greeted on our arrival by the base's commander, General Nicholas Anson, a somewhat stern, but calm-looking (AN: Hope that makes sense) dark-haired middle-aged man.

"Princess Cornelia, welcome." The general said, his voice not dripping with arrogance as I'd come to expect from many Britannians like him. Clearly they weren't all self-absorbed pompous jackasses, not that I'd ever say that out loud.

"General Anson, has there been any change to the situation?" Cornelia asked, apparently ignoring the general's greeting and cutting right to the chase. For his part, General Anson didn't seem fazed at all.

"None so far, your Highness. Honestly, I'd expected the enemy to make some sort of move before you arrived." He replied.

"Yes, clearly they aren't as formidable as they would like us to believe. Have you managed to learn any more details on the enemy forces?" Cornelia asked, to which the general nodded.

"Of course, your Highness. Please, over here." He replied, leading us over to what appeared to be a large map-reading table. However, as we approached, the surface of the table changed to display a large map projection, showing the entire northern Sinai Peninsula and most of Israel and Jordan. Currently, the border between Britannian territory and the newly-formed MEF was located roughly where the border between Israel and Egypt should've been. The Britannian territory was displayed in blue, while the MEF's was shown in red. "As it stands, no element of the enemy's force has made any move beyond assembling at the border. By our estimate, they've assembled approximately one hundred and fifty tanks, one hundred and eighty VTOL gunships, and fifty thousand infantry. We've also determined that they've deployed around fifty to eighty Bamides, although we can't be certain of that."

"And why is that?" Cornelia asked, her voice slightly incredulous. "They're not exactly small."

"True, but the enemy appears to be very adept at camouflaging the positions of these units, so it's difficult to determine how many there are. For the same reason, we've been unable to locate any of the Panzer-Ameise units that they've received." Anson explained.

"So, they think they can fool us, do they?" Cornelia asked, smirking slightly. "General Anson, alert all personnel! We're moving out immediately!" At her command, the general and all the staff jumped to attention.

"Yes, your Highness!" Anson replied, before turning to the rest of his men. "You all heard the Princess! We're moving now!"

"Yes, my Lord!" came the chorus of replies.

* * *

 **26th February, 2017 a.t.b.**

 **10:14 am**

 **Near Jabal Halal, in the Sinai Peninsula**

Just over two weeks later, I found myself standing within the bridge of the G-1 Base, as the massive mobile command center rumbled its way through the desert near the Jabal Halal area of north-eastern Sinai. Since arriving in the region, we'd already encountered and engaged the Middle Eastern Federation's advance forces in battle four times, soundly defeating them on each occasion. The MEF had been the first to make an aggressive move, with their forces advancing into Britannian territory in the northern Sinai Peninsula. Despite this, Darlton, Guilford and I had noticed something odd. In each of the four battles, the MEF's forces had consisted solely of tanks and gunships, meaning we had yet to encounter any of their Knightmare units. Cornelia wasn't concerned by this fact, saying that the enemy would be forced to deploy their Knightmares soon, as we were beginning to close on their territory. However, I found myself getting increasingly concerned as we entered the Jabal Halal area. Here the terrain started to change; shifting from flat, open desert to wide valleys flanked by short mountain ranges. Terrain that would favour the long-range Bamides and Panzer-Ameises.

Today, we were preparing to launch yet another attack against the MEF. Our scouts had just confirmed a large concentration of MEF tanks and other vehicles on a ridge-line twenty kilometres away. Cornelia had ordered all of our Knightmares to deploy, ready to launch the attack on her command. Our force consisted of fifty Sutherlands, led by ten Gloucesters from Cornelia's Royal Guard, with Guilford and Darlton leading them. I was remaining in the G-1, currently stood in front of the main map table with a handful of other officers, with a second, larger map up on the main display at the front of the bridge area. Cornelia herself was sat on her throne at the back of the bridge, looking slightly down at the rest of us. Just then, the earpiece in my right ear beeped, indicating I had an incoming message.

"This is Lieutenant Gavin. Any news?" I asked, activating the "talk" function.

" _ **Lieutenant, this is Sapphire One reporting in."**_ came the reply. Sapphire One was the call-sign for one of our scout VTOL gunships, which had been sent out to confirm the enemy's location and strength before the attack began. Once we received their final report, the attack would begin.

"Confirmed, Sapphire One. Any change to the situation?" I replied. Despite my reservations, I felt myself getting slightly excited. The past few days had shown me the thrill that came with battle, especially the thrill of winning a battle, and I'd come to relish the feeling. I was beginning to see why Cornelia took so much pride in her abilities, and why she clearly enjoyed her job.

" _ **My Lord, we've just confirmed the enemy has deployed approximately one hundred Panzer-Ameises to their front line. It looks like their tanks are withdrawing from the battlefield."**_ Sapphire One replied. So the MEF was finally deciding to send in their Knightmares as well. And not only that, they now had us slightly outnumbered.

"Copy, Sapphire One, good work. Return to base." I replied, before turning to face Cornelia. "Your Highness, we've just confirmed the enemy has deployed approximately one hundred Panzer-Ameises to the front line, and their tanks are now withdrawing from the battle." I could see Cornelia eye's glinting at this news.

"So they've finally decided to take us seriously, have they? No matter." She replied, rising to her feet. "All units, commence the attack! Eradicate all MEF forces!"

At her order, the large force of Britannian Knightmares charged forward, kicking up a huge cloud of dust in its wake. As the terrain here was still very sandy, all the Knightmares were equipped with Sand Panels, allowing them to easily glide across the soft ground. I watched intently, as their markers skimmed across the map, approaching the MEF's position. Within minutes, the two forces met head-on, with the MEF holding still as our force charged toward them.

" _I can't say I'm surprised they aren't moving. The Panzer-Ameise is definitely better suited to the defensive role."_ I thought. Just then, while our units were still some distance away, we received reports that the MEF Knightmares had opened fire. As our forces pressed forward, we began taking occasional casualties, but so far it was nothing to be very concerned about. The Panzer-Ameises were proving formidable, but we'd expected that to be the case.

However, as I watched the battle continue to unfold, something began to worry me. The MEF's Knightmares had formed a single line, stretching roughly one kilometre across the valley where the battle was taking place. Suddenly, I noticed that our units in the center of the line were starting to make progress, forcing the Federation's Knightmares to begin to fall back. But at the same time, both of the enemy's flanks were holding firm, not giving any ground at all. As I continued to watch, I suddenly realised what was happening.

The Federation forces were pulling off a classic double envelopment, otherwise known as a pincer movement. As their center units pulled back, the wings simultaneously began to push forward. Thankfully, our own flank units were able to hold of the enemy's wings, preventing them from completing the pincer. But although we'd managed to hold the enemy off, our force was now surrounded on three sides; it could no longer manoeuvre, and we were beginning to take more and more casualties. Suddenly, one of the officers next to me cried out.

"We just lost contact with Rowland's unit! They've been wiped out!" he shouted. A bunch of "Lost" beacons appeared on the map, indicating the loss of four Sutherlands all at once. Seconds later, two more units were destroyed, despite them being apparently safe from immediate enemy fire. Not only that, these last few casualties had happened too fast for them all to have been the work of the Panzer-Ameises.

"All units are reporting heavy bombardment! Coming from the north!" one of the officers exclaimed.

"Impossible! There aren't any enemy artillery units in the area!" another officer protested. Suddenly, the answer hit me.

"That's it!" I exclaimed, causing everyone in the room to look at me.

"Lieutenant, care to enlighten the rest of us?" Cornelia asked. I turned to face her, nodding in reply.

"Yes, your Highness." I replied. "It's a brilliant move, if I may say. I believe the Federation has positioned a number of Bamides some distance behind their main front line. The role of the Panzer-Ameises wasn't to destroy our forces, rather they were intended to box our units in and hold them in place, thus allowing the Bamides to provide accurate long-range bombardment. It's fortunate that our forces were not completely surrounded, otherwise the situation would be even worse."

"And I assume you have a plan to deal with this situation?" Cornelia inquired, raising an eyebrow.

"I believe so, your Highness. As it stands, our forces will likely be wiped out unless they manage to break through the enemy's forward line. If we were to hit the enemy flanks from both inside and out at the same time, that would cause the flanks to collapse, thus allowing our forces to overwhelm them and break out. They would then be in a position to destroy the center of the enemy line, which in turn would leave the Bamides wide open." I explained. As I finished speaking, one of the senior officers stepped forward.

"Just who do you think you are?!" he yelled, his voice incredulous. "Our forces are in no danger of-" he continued, only to be interrupted by Cornelia herself.

"No, the Lieutenant is right." She stated, rising from her throne once more. "Lieutenant, head down to the hangar. You and I will head out and see if we can't rescue this operation."

"At once, your Highness!" I replied, stamping by boots together and snapping off a salute, before heading on my way.

* * *

Soon after, I'd made my way down into the G-1's reasonably spacious hangar, and settled into my Gloucester's seat. I'd already had a few hours in the simulator, mainly just to get used to the different cockpit layout to the Glasgow. The only real difference was a redesigned center console, with a lot more buttons and switches, and the control rails, which were now only attached at the front of the cockpit. The controllers themselves were a lot better, with a much more ergonomic design that I could comfortably wrap my hands around. As I closed the cockpit hatch, one of the technicians came through over my earpiece.

" _ **Lieutenant Gavin, all preparations are now complete. Your unit has been equipped with an Assault Rifle as the primary weapon, with a Large Cannon on each forearm, as per your orders."**_ He explained.

"Good work." I replied, as I felt myself being moved into the G-1's left-side catapult. If we were going to make this work, every second counted.

" _ **Launch preparations complete, Lieutenant. You may launch when ready."**_

"Acknowledged." I replied, gripping the controls firmly. I took a few seconds to calm myself, my breathing having gotten slightly erratic due to my nervousness. "This is Lieutenant Gavin, Gloucester, now launching!"

At my command, the catapult fired, launching my Gloucester forward as if I'd just been rear-ended by a freight train. As I cleared the G-1, I instinctively engaged my Landspinners, my unit having already been fitted with Sand Panels, and as soon as I hit the ground, the Gloucester took off. At the same time, I spotted Cornelia's unique horned Gloucester just ahead of me, its signature cape flapping behind it, a large, golden lance in its right hand. I increased my speed slightly, drawing level with the Princess' machine.

" _ **Alright Lieutenant, since this is your plan, how should we proceed?"**_ Cornelia asked, as she came through over the vid-com, the small window displaying itself on my right-hand screen.

"We need to hit both of the enemy flanks at the same time. That will guarantee we cause the greatest disruption among the enemy forces." I replied. "If hit them on the right, then I'll hit them on the left. We also need to alert Guilford and Darlton, so that they launch their attack as soon as we open fire."

" _ **Very well, Lieutenant. I'll inform Guilford and Darlton now. I'll let you know when I'm in position."**_ Cornelia replied, before peeling off to the right, heading around a low hill in her way. I steered slightly in the opposite direction, putting me on course to outflank the enemy on the left-hand side. Bringing up the battlefield map, I could see that I had another ten kilometres or so before I would be in position to attack. That gave me a minute or two in which to figure out exactly how I would attack.

From the intel I'd read, the Panzer-Ameise did possess relatively thick armour, but nothing that the Assault Rifle couldn't penetrate. And as long as I kept moving, they'd have a hard time hitting me with their slow-firing Anti-Tank Guns. I'd also have to take them out quickly, to avoid having a number of them firing at me all at once, which was when they seemed to be the most effective.

A few minutes later, and I could now see the battle. And things didn't seem to be going too well. While the vast majority of our forces were still intact, they'd sustained reasonable casualties in the time it had taken me to arrive. But now, the tide of the battle would hopefully swing in our favour.

"Princess Cornelia, do you copy? I'm in position." I announced. The reply came seconds later.

" _ **Very good, Lieutenant. Commence your attack!"**_ Cornelia commanded, her voice full of power and authority.

"Yes, your Highness!" I shouted, rushing forward as my finger closed on the trigger. Instantly, the gun in my Gloucester's hands roared to life, unleashing a torrent of fire on the nearest Panzer-Ameise. The heavy armour-piercing rounds blasted through the Knightmare's back and cockpit, quickly transforming it into a blazing wreck. Immediately I saw the Sutherlands nearest to me open fire as well, concentrating their attack on the other Panzer-Ameises near my position, no doubt the units on Cornelia's side were doing the same. Unfortunately, my initial success now meant that some of the enemy Knightmares were now turning their attention on me.

Knowing that remaining a stationary target was pretty much suicide, I yanked the controls to the left while pushing down on the pedals. The Gloucester responded smartly, dashing away from my current position just as the nearest Panzer-Ameise opened fire, several heavy rounds impacting the sand where I'd just been. As I traveled away, I turned around and fired another burst. The rounds caught the unit that had just fired at full in the front, shredding the frontal armour and tearing the unfortunate machine in half. I barely had time to register this fact, before I swung around to the left and fired again, downing a third Panzer-Ameise just as it managed to train its guns on me.

A few minutes, and another three or four successful kills later, I cried out in surprise as a few well-placed shots hit me Gloucester. Thankfully, the rounds had only destroyed my rifle, instead of hitting the main body. A quick glance at the map told me that my plan was clearly working; the enemy flanks had been almost completely wiped out, with just a few handfuls of stragglers left.

Deciding that our forces could deal with the remaining flank units as well as the center of the enemy line, I was off again, tearing my way further north. We still had the Bamides to deal with, and I didn't know exactly where they were. Their fire could still prove dangerous, especially now that they didn't have to worry about hitting their comrades.

"To all units, this is Lieutenant Gavin. I'm heading north to locate and destroy the enemy artillery units." I announced, just to make sure that I wouldn't get reprimanded for breaking away on my own.

" _ **Lieutenant, it's Guilford. I've confirmed your report with Princess Cornelia, and should be joining you shortly. Good luck."**_ Came Guilford's reply.

As I continued on, a massive shock-wave rocked my Gloucester, as a shell impacted the ground and exploded not far to my right. Letting out a grunt from being thrown around slightly in my seat, I quickly looked up again and could just now make out a silhouettes of at least ten Bamides positioned well behind a ridge-line that I was now cresting. They'd clearly spotted me, and were now proceeding to rain down a storm of fire on my position. I immediately took evasive action, throwing the Gloucester left and right, trying to keep myself as unpredictable as possible. Working in my favour was the low rate of fire of the Bamides' guns; they could only fire every two or three seconds, making it considerably easier to dodge their fire. At the same time, I readied the two Large Cannons that were affixed to my Gloucester's forearms. Although not the usual way for them to be wielded, this configuration for the Large Cannons had been trialed on Glasgows during the invasion of Japan, and it had proved to be very effective, especially if you needed to wield two cannons at the same time.

Unfortunately, I was still not yet in range to start firing at the Bamides, and their aim seemed to be getting better. To buy myself some extra time, I started occasionally firing one of my cannons into the ground ahead of me. The resulting impact and explosion each time threw up a huge cloud of sand, temporarily obscuring my position for a few seconds, making it nearly impossible to accurately track my movements.

Finally, after about a minute of constantly dodging incoming fire, I moved within the Large Cannons' firing range, and immediately began blasting away. My first two shots were dead on target, striking the lead Bamides right in the front-right leg. Said limb was destroyed, causing the entire unit to topple sideways, before landing heavily on its side. Another pair of shots penetrated the front armour, blowing the main body to pieces. As I proceeded to open fire on the next one, I saw on my map that Guilford and a pair of other Gloucesters had just arrived, and were proceeding to engage the other side of the line of Bamides. The hulking behemoths stood no chance against us. Their greatest assets, their cannons, were all but useless against such small, fast-moving targets, especially at such close range. At the same time, their armour simply wasn't strong enough to withstand shots from point-blank range. In no time at all, the Federation's entire rear line had been completely wiped out.

Now that things had finally calmed down, I could finally catch my breath. My hands ached as I released my previously tight grip on the controls, while I could now feel the film of sweat that had accumulated on my back, underneath my shirt. As I sat still for the next few seconds, I could feel myself smiling. This was what real battle was like…the exhilaration…the rush. I couldn't deny that some primitive part of me yearned for this feeling…and the rest of me did as well.

* * *

 **1:49 pm**

 **G1 Base**

About twenty or so minutes later, I was once again stood within the G1's Knightmare Frame hangar, idly watching as the technicians gave my Gloucester a thorough going over, seemingly checking everything including the paintwork for damage and signs of wear. I meanwhile was letting my body cool down a bit, occasionally taking a gulp from the bottle of water one of the men had handed to me when I arrived back. I'd accepted it graciously, having not realised until then that my throat had gotten slightly dry. Then again, I'd just participated in actual military combat for the first time in my twenty-two years of life, so it didn't surprise me too much that I was feeling a little parched.

" _I guess that's something I'll have to get used to."_ I thought, just as the sound of approaching footsteps to my left caught my attention. Turning my head, the source of the noise turned out to be Guilford. The knight was once again dressed in his usual attire, having had ample time to change since he'd arrived back a while before I had, as I'd elected to head back at a slightly slower pace to let my body relax a bit.

"Lord Guilford, can I help you?" I asked, snapping off a quick, slightly sloppy salute. For his part, Guilford didn't make any comment, other than returning my salute.

"Yes Lieutenant, you can. Princess Cornelia has requested you be present for the debriefing. Especially since it was your plan that may have just saved our forces." He explained.

"Of course, Lord Guilford. Although I think saying I saved our forces is a bit of a stretch." I replied, sheepishly rubbing the back of my neck.

"Those weren't my words Lieutenant, Princess Cornelia said them herself. And she isn't the kind of commander that gives out such high praise very often." Guilford replied, turning around and motioning for me to follow. "In any case, we'd better head up to the debriefing now. So don't take my word for it, you'll hear for self soon enough."

* * *

A short time later, the two of us arrived on the bridge, to find both Cornelia and Darlton (standing to Cornelia's left) waiting for us, along with a handful of other officers. As we entered, I could see the princess briefly turn her gaze to us, more specifically to me, before looking away again. Probably making sure she wasn't seen looking at me, who was just an average soldier compared to her. At the same time, I noticed some of the officers glowering at me as I walked in. One of them was the same senior officer who'd spoken out against me when I'd suggested my idea, and I assumed the others were of the same mind, and had simply elected to keep quite at the time.

" _Not my fault their pride's hurt. Holding pride above all else only brings you defeat when it comes to war."_ I thought, making it a point to ignore their gaze. Guilford and I approached Cornelia's throne, kneeling before her as we had previously.

"Rise Guilford, Lieutenant." Cornelia ordered. The two of use rose to our feet again, our backs ramrod straight. I knew I wasn't going to be yelled at, going by Cornelia's positive reaction to my suggestions thus far, but when there were others in the room apart from her, Darlton, Guilford and myself, it always felt like she was about to reprimand you for something. "Lieutenant, General Darlton has already provided us with his assessment, as has Guilford. Is there anything you wish to add?"

"Nothing at present, your Highness." I replied, my voice staying level. I'd finally managed to get to the point where I could speak to Cornelia in front of others (i.e. officers, nobles etc.) without feeling nervous anymore.

"Very well, then." she replied. "Lieutenant, I have so far heard nothing but glowing praise from both General Darlton and Guilford, as well as from many of our other pilots. They all agree that your timely assessment of the situation prevented us from taking far greater casualties, to say nothing of your remarkable performance in the field. In light of this, I, Cornelia, hereby promote you to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. Do you have any objection to this?"

"None at all." I replied, feeling my heart swell with pride. "Thank you for such an honour, your Highness."

"Princess, you can't be serious!" a voice behind me cried out. Instantly, I could tell it was the same officer who'd spoken up earlier, who clearly hadn't learned his lesson yet. Even I knew, you do NOT speak out against a princess like that.

"Silence!" Cornelia roared, causing the man to shut up immediately. "Major Forsyth, if we had followed you earlier 'suggestion', we would still have won the battle, but lost half of our forces in the process[1]. Unlike you, the Lieutenant Colonel actually had the patience and common sense to assess the situation and suggest the appropriate actions. Seeing as he is know your superior, you will show him the respect he deserves. If not, your career WILL suffer, am I understood?"

"Yes, your Highness." Major Forsyth grudgingly replied. I honestly had to suppress some laughter at the sight of this prideful man being brought down a peg or two, and the fact that I, the one he'd spoken out against with such fervor, was now his superior. Oh, I was going to enjoy that.

* * *

 **AN:** And with that, Chapter 4 is now done!Hope you all enjoyed this story's first taste of combat. It was honestly rather easy to write that part, since I'd already figured out roughly how I wanted the battle to go.

For those of you that may not have realised, I actually based this battle partially on the Battle of Marathon, specifically the double envelopment manoeuvre used by the MEF forces. It's also where I got the idea of how Matthew would suggest countering it. Historically, such a manoeuvre could've been defeated if the Persians at Marathon had been able to employ their cavalry to hit the flanks.

In the next chapter, we will be joining the events of the story. Hope this isn't too much of a spoiler, but it will basically be set around the time of Suzaku's arrest, just before his trial. Cornelia will be sending Matthew ahead to Area 11 to oversee things until she arrives. I'm mostly doing this because it'll be fun to have Matthew chew out Jeremiah and Kewell.

 **AN #2:** Also wanted to mention this, but I've got a couple of ideas for two spin-off fanfics for this story, and I wanted to get everyone's opinion on them:

 **Idea #1 – A New Signature, A New Valkyrie:** As you may be able to guess by the title, this story would for all intents and purposes be the same sa the story you're currently reading. However, the difference would be that the OC (me, as it would still be a Self-Insert) is somehow turned into a girl in the process of being thrown into the Code Geass world. At present, my character design has my OC looking like Soma Peries (Mobile Suit Gundam 00 - Second Season Appearance). In terms of genre, they would be the same as this story, with my OC paired this time with Guilford.

 **Idea #1 – A New Signature (Black Knights Route):** Sort of got this idea from _Code Geass: Lost Colours_. In this story, the OC is the same as in _A New Signature_ , but this time ends up joining Lelouch & the Black Knights instead of Cornelia and Britannia. Not sure if I'll do this with my OC still a guy or turned into a girl (different design to Idea #1), but I've pretty much decided they'll be paired with Kallen either way. Also, my OC in this version may/may not be given a Geass, depends if I can think of a good Geass power to use. Please do suggest any ideas for potential Geass powers if you have any. I promise to credit you if I use your idea, or if your idea inspires an idea of mine.

 **[1]:** It's pretty obvious, but "Major Forsyth" is a clear shout-out to "Ciaran Forsyth" from _Code Geass - A Brave New World_ , one of the two stories that inspired this story. Please understand that my treatment of Major Forsyth is NOT representative of my view of Ciaran, I think he's a great character, but the name just seemed to work well here.


	5. Chapter 5: His Name is Zero

**AN:** Hey everyone, sorry for the looooong wait, but I've been experiencing a bit of…not writer's block, more like periods where I just don't really have the motivation to write very much more than a paragraph or two. Nevertheless, this chapter is finally done, and just in time for Christmas! So think of this as my Christmas present to all you loyal readers to enjoy. Merry Christmas!

 **Update:** You guys have probably noticed that title of this story has been changed. I've done so in order to accommodate for the other version of this story that I will hopefully get to writing in the future, although I can't promise exactly when that will happen. The good news is; this other version will be mostly the same, say around 70-80% the same, so updates for it will likely happen a bit faster than for this story, and the chapters will be relatively familiar to anyone who's been following this story closely.

" _12345"_ = Thoughts.

" _ **678910"**_ = Radio, cell phones, TV etc.

* * *

 **22nd March, 2017 a.t.b.**

 **Near Ha'il, Ha'il Province, Saudi Arabia**

After almost another month of fighting, mainly due to the MEF's remaining Panzer-Ameises, our forces had managed to advance as far as the city of Ha'il, in Saudi Arabia. Although the Federation forces continued to put up fierce resistance, we now knew how to deal with their tactics, which had seemingly gone unchanged since Jabal Halal, even though it was clear they no longer worked. In any case, I'd modified my improvised solution from that battle into a fully-fledged strategy, which involved splitting our force into two separate groups. The main group, comprising roughly 80% of our total force, would engage the forward enemy line as usual, while the group which comprised the remaining 20% of our force were positioned a few kilometres behind. If and when the main force found itself surrounded, the secondary force would immediately advance, separating into two smaller groups, and launch a coordinated attack on the enemy flanks in concert with the main force. Once the flanks collapsed, half of the secondary force would then advance to wipe out any Bamides that were positioned behind the main battle line. As it focused mainly on crushing north flanks of the envelopment from both inside and outside simultaneously, I decided to christen it the "Double Vice" strategy. To facilitate simpler direction of the secondary force when it separated into its two halves, the two smaller forces were referred to as "V-1" and "V-2" respectively, which allowed for the entire manoeuvre to be directed with relative ease. In addition, the secondary force's Knightmares were all equipped with both a standard Assault Rifle, for combatting the Panzer-Ameises, and a single Large Cannon mounted on one arm, to destroy the Bamides and any other hardened targets they encountered. I chose to have them only equip one LC, a single cannon being sufficient due to the greater number of Knightmares, and also the fact that the Knightmares themselves would then be carrying less weight, making them slightly faster and more agile.

However, despite our continued success, I kept feeling a strange sense of foreboding. It was as if something momentous were about to happen, but I had no idea what. Little did I know, my questions would be answered very soon.

* * *

 **6:38 pm**

 **G-1 Base**

 **Ha'il Regional Airport**

Today had started much the same as every other day since we'd arrived in the Middle East. Our forces were currently preparing for what would be the last, decisive battle in the campaign. The MEF's few remaining forces were gathered at a single base a few hundred kilometres east, positioned to protect the main route to Kuwait City, the capital of the Middle Eastern Federation. Once the base was taken, the MEF's ability to resist Britannia would be destroyed, and the nation would be reorganised into a new Area; Area 18. Although I couldn't help feel a bit apprehensive about the whole affair, I reasoned to myself that it wasn't entirely without justification, as the Federation had been the ones to attack us. While I was contemplating this, amongst other things, Guilford came and explained that he, Darlton, and I had been summoned urgently to a private meeting with Cornelia. Given how he described it, I gathered that something pretty serious must have been going on. I followed him up to the G-1's bridge, where I could see that shutters now covered all of the windows, preventing anyone from seeing inside. As we entered, I spotted Darlton already standing in front of Cornelia's throne, where the woman herself was seated. Surprisingly, her normally stern expression was currently bordering on one of rage, although she still kept herself remarkably composed. Clearly, this was even more serious than I'd thought. I continued forward, positioning myself next to Darlton, as Guilford closed and sealed the door, before joining the two of us in front of Cornelia.

"Now that all of you are here, I will make one thing clear before I explain why I called you here. None of you will breathe a word of this meeting unless I say so. Am I understood?" Cornelia asked, her voice as commanding as always.

"Yes, your Highness!" we chorused.

"Good, I expect nothing less." Cornelia replied. "I've called you here because of some troubling news I just received. My brother, Second Prince Clovis, was killed yesterday in Area 11." As soon as the words left her mouth, I felt my eyes widen in shock.

"What?!" Darlton exclaimed.

"Impossible!" Guilford gasped.

" _Now I see why this needs to be kept secret, at least until they make an official announcement."_ I thought. _"But given what I've read, Area 11 does have one of the most powerful resistance movements, so it's not entirely unexpected."_

"I know, I didn't believe it at first either. But it's true. What's more, we don't yet know who was responsible." Cornelia replied. "However, we have more pressing concerns. Area 11 is now without a Viceroy to impose order, and with such a strong resistance movement, we must act quickly in order to maintain stability. His Majesty has instructed that I take my brother's place, once I'm finished here. Matthew, I have a job for you regarding this."

"Of course, Princess Cornelia. How may I be of service?" I replied.

"Since I won't be able to leave here until I'm finished dealing with the Federation, I'm sending you to Area 11 ahead of me. I need you to keep things in order until I arrive." She explained.

"Um, your Highness? With all due respect, I'm not sure if I can handle that kind of responsibility." I replied, making sure to keep my words respectful.

"Oh don't worry Matthew, I don't expect you to run the entire country by yourself. Margrave Jeremiah Gottwald is currently acting as Temporary Viceroy for the time being. Your role will be to oversee any developments and keep things in check." Cornelia explained, flashing me an amused mile. "Until I arrive and say otherwise, you will have full authority to act as you deem necessary, and our forces will be instructed to keep you informed on all matters. Just know that Jeremiah and his Purists may need some reminding of this fact. They're in command at present, and a Lieutenant Colonel having authority over them isn't something they'll take kindly to. To help you deal with them, I haven't informed of your arrival, so you should be able to catch them unawares"

"I understand, you Highness. I'll do my best." I replied.

"I know you will." She replied. "Now then, you'll be heading directly from here to Area 11. An Imperial Shuttle is already waiting for you, and the crew have had your belongings stowed on board, so they're just waiting on you. I suggest you head over right away, now that we're all done here." She continued, as the window shutters opened up, letting the harsh sunlight flood into the previously dark room. I had to wait a second or too for my eyes to adjust themselves.

"As you command, your Highness."

* * *

 **23rd March, 2017 a.t.b.**

 **9.47 am**

 **Tokyo Settlement, Area 11**

 **Viceroy's Palace of Area 11**

As the shuttle touched down on the palace's landing platform, I quickly took the opportunity to flex my neck a little, trying to work out some of the remaining stiffness. The flight had taken longer than the previous one, as we had been forced to take a rather roundabout route in order to avoid flying over Chinese Federation territory. Not that I minded, as it allowed me to get some half decent sleep on the way. Thanks to that, I was feeling remarkably fresh, which I knew would soon come in handy. After exiting the shuttle, I climbed into a waiting car, which then drove me to the main palace building itself, which towered over me despite being a kilometre or so away. I'd noticed the sheer scale of the settlement as the shuttle had prepared to land earlier. The entire structure was built on top of a massive, elevated platform, apparently in order to provide a flat base for all the buildings and other infrastructure. A single monorail line ran along the settlement's perimeter, a very distinct dividing line between the wealthy settlement and the frankly decrepit ghettos that lay beyond, where I knew almost all of Tokyo's Japanese, or Eleven population lived.

" _If you could call it living."_ I thought, clenching my fist at the thought. It just wasn't right that the Japanese people had had their very identity stripped away from them. But I knew there was no point in saying anything. For one, it would mark me as an outsider. And two, one person speaking out couldn't make a difference, not with the Britannian mentality. I didn't hate Cornelia for it, however. She'd explained to me once before, that she didn't particularly care for the labels other Britannians were partial too. In her eyes, it was a person's ability and performance that measured their worth, not where they were from, which I respected. But she also explained that she refrained from following her beliefs unnecessarily when in front of others, as she had to maintain the air of a Britannian Princess at all times, except in private. I was broken from my musing as the car door opened, revealing the driver stood outside.

"My Lord, we have arrived." He explained. I nodded in reply, grabbing the letter I'd sat next to me, sliding it into my uniform's jacket. The letter had been given to me by Cornelia, and contained the exact orders for Margrave Jeremiah and the others, for when they inevitably questioned my story.

"Excellent. Make sure my luggage is taken to my room immediately." I ordered, as I stepped out of the vehicle.

"Yes, my Lord." The driver replied, as I made my way towards the large doors of the palace. I couldn't help but smile a little; I honestly enjoyed being able to order people around like that. I knew it wasn't something that one should derive pleasure from, but I could now understand why certain people enjoyed having positions of power like mine. It was especially satisfying for someone like me, who'd more or less been on the other end of the stick for pretty much their entire life. As I entered, a man wearing a blue-grey uniform (AN: Purist Faction uniform) with a maroon armband on his left arm approached me.

"And just who are you?" he demanded, his voice laden with arrogance, as if this was a waste of his time.

"Lieutenant Colonel Matthew Gavin, member of Her Royal Highness Princess Cornelia's Royal Guard. I'm here specifically on her orders." I replied, my full of authority. Not surprisingly, the Purist didn't seem convinced.

"Hmph, a likely story." He countered. I sighed, realising I'd have to do this the hard way.

"Since you clearly don't believe me, perhaps you'd care to take a look at this." I replied, drawing the letter from my jacket, showing him Cornelia's personal seal on the back. The man's eyes went wide open, his face visibly paling. "As you can see, my orders are real, much as you would like to think otherwise. Now, I have business with Margrave Jeremiah. You have two options. You can choose to stick with your previous course of action, in which case you will be reported for disobeying Princess Cornelia's orders, or you can take me to Margrave Jeremiah immediately. Your choice."

"O-Of course, my Lord! For-Forgive me!" the man stammered, almost on the verge of cowering in fear. "Please, follow me." I nodded, as the Purist led the way further into the palace. After a short trip, we arrived outside a set of exquisitely-made dark wood doors. The Purist opened one of the doors and stepped inside, while I stood behind him, out of view from anyone inside the room.

"I believe I said not disturb me, did I not?" Came a man's voice from inside.

"Yes, Lord Jeremiah, you did. But my Lord, this _is_ important." The Purist in front of me replied.

"Is that so? I'm unaware of anything significant happening at the moment, so what is it?" the man inside asked. The Purist stepped to one side, allowing me to enter. The office was surprisingly spartan; aside from a pair of Britannian flags behind the desk, there was little in the way of decoration. I suspected that Prince Clovis had used this room very little. Opposite the doors was a large window above a waist-height wall, in front of which rested a large, wooden desk. At the desk sat Margrave Jeremiah Gottwald, instantly recognisable thanks to his teal-coloured hair and orange eyes. Behind him stood two other Purist officers, Kewell Soresi and Villetta Nu. Thankfully, I'd gone over their personnel files during the flight, so I already knew their faces. However, I felt my pulse quicken a little as I laid eyes on Villetta. Clearly, her profile photo did not do her justice; she was very attractive indeed, and like Cornelia, appeared to be a powerful woman in her own right. Putting these thoughts aside, I turned my attention to Jeremiah, keeping my expression calm, yet stern (I hoped).

"I believe he was referring to me." I stated, causing the Margrave to raise an eyebrow.

"And just who are you?" he asked.

"Lieutenant Colonel Matthew Gavin, of Her Royal Highness Second Princess Cornelia's Royal Guard. I'm here by order of Princess Cornelia herself." I explained, stepping forward and handing him the letter. "This should explain everything." Jeremiah took the letter, opening it up and reading through it, at least twice if I was watching his eyes correctly.

"This is absurd! How can be expected to take orders from someone like you?!" Jeremiah demanded, the outrage clear despite the fact that he refrained from raising his voice. Good thing I'd prepared for this.

"Margrave Jeremiah, I will keep this very simple. My orders are to oversee Area 11, until Princess Cornelia arrives and assumes the position of Viceroy. Until then, I am in command here, and you will report directly to me. Until the Princess says otherwise, I outrank all of you." I explained, making sure my voice was as commanding as possible. "You have already failed your duty by allowing Prince Clovis to be killed. Do not compound your failure by disobeying my Princess' orders. Am I clear?"

"Understood." Jeremiah replied grudgingly. Clearly, he was even more outraged at having someone well below him ordering him around like that, but he obviously had enough sense to hold back his pride for the time being.

"Very good, I'm glad we could deal with this in a civil manner." I said. "Now then, how is the investigation into His Highness' death proceeding? Do you have any leads yet?"

"Yes, we do." Jeremiah replied, as Villetta passed me a relatively thin file, which seemed too thin for an investigation into the death of an Imperial Prince. "We currently have a suspect, and already have him in custody."

Opening the file, I was greeted by the image of a Japanese man, or rather teenager, staring back at me. The young man had slightly messy brown hair, and green eyes. The file gave his name as 'Suzaku Kururugi'. Reading down, I noticed that he was listed as an Honorary Britannian, serving as a Private in the Area 11 military. The report stated that he was the only current suspect, and that all the evidence pointed to him as the assassin. However, as I read further, I noticed something odd. A testimony from a group called the 'Advanced Special Envoy Engineering Corps', stating the Private Kururugi had been piloting their prototype Seventh Generation Knightmare frame 'Lancelot' on the day in question, and had been on the other side of the Shinjuku Ghetto at the time Prince Clovis was killed. Despite this, the testimony had been stamped 'Inadmissible', and was thus being ignored. And I quickly understood why.

First, I'd read up on the Purist Faction, who wanted to abolish the Honorary Britannian system, and have only pureblood Britannians able to serve in the military. Thus, it made perfect sense to paint an Honorary Britannian like Suzaku as the culprit, as it would give them all the excuse they needed for their crackdown. In addition, Elevens like Suzaku were forbidden from piloting Knightmares, which gave them the perfect justification for disregarding the Special Corps' testimony. And finally, Suzaku's own background gave them the perfect motive. As the eldest son of Japan's last acting Prime Minister, Genbu Kururugi, Suzaku, in their eyes, had the perfect motivation to assassinate Prince Clovis. Even so, I had my doubts that Suzaku was the one responsible.

Whoever had killed Prince Clovis was a professional, or must have some sort of supernatural powers. He'd managed to penetrate Clovis' security with ease, as no one had reported anything suspicious at the time. On top of that, he'd slipped away completely unnoticed, while leaving behind no evidence of his identity. That profile just didn't match up with someone like Suzaku. An assassin skilled enough to kill a prince without leaving any evidence wouldn't have been captured so easily. However, I decided it would be best to just let things progress without interfering, since I was unfamiliar with the case and had no realistic alternative suspect/s.

" _If I'm right, then I bet they'll parade him in public on the way to some sort of show trial. And given what we know about whoever's really responsible, chances are he'll either make a statement beforehand, or he'll actually show up in person. If he was confident enough to attempt an assassination like this, then he won't be able to resist."_ I , the profile seemed to suggest someone who was not only supremely confident in his/her own abilities, but also had a penchant for the dramatic. After all, if all he'd wanted to do was strike a blow against the Britannian forces, targeting a high-ranking officer would've made more sense. It would greatly disrupt their forces, without drawing so much attention.

"I see, that's good. The sooner we can have this issue resolved, the better." I commented, handing the file back to Villetta. "Since you seem to have everything well in hand, I'll leave the rest up to you. In the meantime, I need to get myself settled in, if you'll excuse me." With that, I turned and walked out of the office. As I did, I felt a firm vibration in my right-hand trouser pocket. Knowing it was my new cell phone (AN: basically the same as Lelouch's phone, with all blue areas recoloured black), I pulled it out and flicked it open. The screen told me I had an incoming call, which I promptly answered.

"This is Lieutenant Colonel Gavin." I answered.

" _My Lord, this is the palace staff. Your belongings have been unpacked and your room is now fully prepared. Shall I send someone to escort you there?"_ a man replied.

"That won't be necessary. Just send me the location, and I'll find my way." I replied, deciding I could use a bit of exercise.

" _Very good my Lord, as you wish. Do let us know if there's anything else you require."_ The man responded. I thanked him once again, before hanging up. A few seconds after, I received a message explaining where my room was located; it turned out to be close to the top of the building, so I immediately made for the nearest elevator.

After a short ride up, I arrived on the correct floor. As I neared my room, I marvelled at the magnificent view provided by the expansive windows along one side of the hallway. Despite my disdain for the blatantly obvious divide between the Settlement and the Ghettos, I couldn't help admitting that it was still quite a sight, especially with Mount Fuji in the background. Although the once beautiful mountain was now scarred by the enormous Britannian Sakuradite mines that stretched down one side. Their efforts to extract the vital component for high-temperature superconductors had horribly tarnished the natural beauty of the mountain.

Once I reached my new room, I was pleasantly surprised by what greeted me. The room itself was substantially larger than my previous room back in Cornelia's palace in Pendragon, with a sizeable bathroom and wardrobe to my left. In the corner between that wall and wall opposite me, there was a small sitting area, complete with a large couch and a television that appeared to have a screen on the order of three feet in size. To my right sat a lavish, four-poster bed, similar in size to my previous one and it appeared even more comfortable. The wall opposite the door was taken up by floor to ceiling windows, giving me a fantastic view outside, with the windows ending just before the sitting area, so as to not interfere with anyone attempting to watch TV. Between the bed and the wall where the door was located sat a small study area, complete with a comfortably-sized desk, which had ample room for books and other such items, with a newer, high-tech laptop-style computer resting on top and a rather cosy-looking chair sat in front of it. Thankfully, the room itself was pleasantly cool, despite the copious amount of sunlight streaming in through the large windows. The windows themselves obviously had some sort of special coating/treatment applied to them, as they let in just the right amount of light to fill the room, while still allowing me to read the various electronic displays without any trouble. I made my way over to the couch and let myself fall down onto it, letting out a relaxed sigh.

" _Well, I've only been here for a little bit, and it's been pretty interesting so far."_ I thought to myself, relaxing into the couch's _very_ comfortable seats. As I did, my thoughts turned back to the matter of Suzaku. _"Given they've already got their scapegoat, then they must be planning to make their big announcement pretty soon. Especially since Jeremiah will only have the authority he has until Cornelia gets here."_

* * *

 **24th March, 2017 a.t.b.**

 **7:21 pm**

 **Tokyo Settlement, Area 11**

 **Viceroy's Palace of Area 11**

The following night, I was sat on the couch in my room once again. This time, however, the TV in front of me was showing the live broadcast of Suzaku's transfer from the prison to his so-called "trial". Unlike before, I was sitting upright, alert, with my arms folded against my chest. As I was currently alone, I did not have to worry about anyone questioning the disapproving scowl on my face.

" _ **Any moment. Any moment now. It's a sight to see. The throngs lining the route. All of them waiting on bated breath. Waiting for the accused murderer of Prince Clovis to pass by; honorary Britannian and former Eleven, Suzaku Kururugi."**_ The announcer proclaimed, as the VTOL camera glided along, its view focused on the large bridge located roughly halfway to the courthouse. On both sides, the bridge's footpaths were jam-packed with Britannian citizens.

" _Disgusting. Parading an accused man around like this, especially before he's even been found guilty."_ I thought. Despite my own personal opinions on the matter, there'd been nothing I could do to influence proceedings. I was only in Area 11 to oversee and observe, not to take command of the situation. Not only that, but my…unique situation meant I had to be careful about overstepping by bounds, lest I attract unnecessary attention.

" _ **I, I can see them! They have the suspect! Suzaku Kururugi is headed this way!"**_ Just then, the view switched to a different camera, this one down by the road itself, as the convoy came into view. The formation consisted of four Sutherlands, each with distinctive crimson shoulder armour marking them as being piloted by the Purists, surrounding a Britannian APC carrying Suzaku and a pair of armed guards. As the convoy continued forward, the throngs of Britannians erupted, every one of them yelling insults towards Suzaku. To his credit, Suzaku appeared to not react in the slightest, apparently opting to keep his head down and ignore them instead. _**"Voices of scorn growing ever louder. Voices bearing testament to a people's love of their prince. Raining their judgement down on a terrorist. Margrave Jeremiah, integral in settling this case, will be presiding over the trial as acting consul."**_

" _Oh, how convenient for him. Not only does he get to take credit for handling the 'investigation', but now he'll also pump himself up by being the one to ensure that 'justice' is served. What a joke."_ I thought, knowing full well that I was the only person on the Britannian side thinking that way. Suddenly, the convoy came to halt, about halfway across the bridge.

" _ **This is not a scheduled stop. Could there have been some sort of accident?"**_

" _ **This is site 5. There is a vehicle approaching them. It's, it's Prince Clovis' personal transport! And it's heading straight for the cavalcade!"**_ At the same time, the broadcast shifted back to the aerial camera, sowing a lavish vehicle driving along the bridge towards the halted convoy. However, the vehicle appeared to have had some large structure erected on its rear half, though it was impossible to tell what purpose it might serve.

" _Well, well, it looks like I guessed right. Let's see what happens next."_ I thought, a satisfied smirk now replacing my previous scowl. If I was indeed right, that _this_ was the real culprit, there was a slight chance that they would somehow manage to free Suzaku. If that happened, it would be a huge blow to the Purists, and destroy any ambitions they had of spreading their influence.

" _ **You dare desecrate His Highness' transport? Come out of there."**_ Jeremiah ordered, as the vehicle came to a stop a short distance from the formation. In apparent response, the Britannian flag on the front of the structure mounted on the vehicle ignited and rapidly burned away, revealing a slim figure. The person was wrapped in a black cape with gold trim, and wore a spike black helmet with a purple oval where the face would've been.

" _ **I am…Zero."**_ The figure announced, his voice somewhat deep, and very commanding.

" _ **Wh-Who is this person? This man calling himself Zero, standing before a full military convoy?!"**_ the announcer cried.

" _Zero, huh? Interesting..."_ I thought. It was certainly a curious choice, and I wondered whether it had some hidden meaning, or if it was simply intended to grab attention. Either way, it sounded _very_ dramatic.

" _ **Who is this man calling himself Zero? Are we gazing on a terrorist? Certainly not the wisest if such is the case."**_

" _ **I've seen enough, Zero. This little show of yours is over."**_ Jeremiah announced, firing his pistol into the air. At this signal, four Sutherlands, which up until now had been carried overhead by VTOL Knightmare transports dropped to the road surface, immediately surrounding Zero's vehicle. _**"First things first. Why don't you lose that mask?"**_ Zero made as he was complying with Jeremiah's demand, raising his hand to the mask covering his face. Then he abruptly raised his arm skyward, before snapping his fingers. At this, the structure behind burst apart, revealing a red, spherical container with a large number of valves attached to it. I was suddenly struck by a realisation, causing me to jump to my feet.

" _I may not know much about this world, but I know a gas container when I see one!"_ I thought, my fists clenched. I'd never imagined anyone would go to such lengths, just for the sake of one man. Even worse, the crowds of people appeared only confused, completely unaware of what was really going on. _"However, he could very well be bluffing. After all, even the slightest possibility would be enough to keep Jeremiah from doing anything rash. If that's the case, then this 'Zero' is even more clever than I'd imagined. He's managed to take an entire bridge of people hostage, and they don't even realise he's done it."_

" _ **Can all of you watching at home see this? It's some sort of device, although its purpose is unclear. Stay with us and we'll see if this so-called terrorist has anything to say."**_ The announcer remarked. Clearly frightened by Zero's actions, Jeremiah aimed his pistol at the man opposite him.

" _ **You intend to shoot? I think you know full well what will happen if you do."**_ Zero replied. Whether or not he actually intended to release whatever the container behind him held within, the mere threat of not knowing appeared to be holding Jeremiah back, as his gun remained aimed at Zero without firing a shot.

" _ **Fine, what are your demands?"**_ Jeremiah asked, lowering his gun.

" _ **An exchange. This, for Kururugi."**_ Zero replied matter-of-factly

" _ **Like hell. He's charged with high treason for murdering a prince. I can't hand him over."**_

" _ **No. You're mistaken, Jeremiah. He's no murderer."**_ Zero replied, as the view now switched to what seemed to be a handheld camera, which moved slightly in front of the masked man, zooming in on said mask at the same time. _**"The man who killed Clovis…"**_ he continued, now looking directly at the camera. _**"…was myself!"**_

" _Matthew: 1, Jeremiah: 0."_ I thought to myself, as I continued to watch closely, curious as to what Zero's next move would be, now that he'd openly confessed to assassinating Clovis himself. _"From what I've already seen, it's obvious he's very clever. So he must have some sort of escape plan. Otherwise, he won't make it out of this alive."_

" _ **What? What does this mean? This masked man called Zero - no, we can't be sure who he is - but in any case, he claims to be the real assassin? So where does this leave the current suspect, Private Kururugi?"**_ the announcer speculated.

" _ **For a single Eleven, you'll save scores of precious Britannians. I find that to be a bargain."**_ Zero proclaimed, as if he were delivering a grand stage performance.

" _ **He's mad, I tell you. Disguising this truck as His Highness'! He'll pay the price for mocking the crown!"**_ Jeremiah shouted, now beginning to sound slightly panicked.

" _ **Careful. You don't wish the public to learn of Orange, do you?"**_ Zero asked. Jeremiah appeared confused, as if he'd never heard of what Zero had just said.

" _But the way Zero said it…could 'Orange' be referring to something Jeremiah wants to keep hidden?"_ I wondered. It certainly was possible. As I pondered this, Zero's vehicle began to slowly inch forward.

" _ **If I die, it'll all go public. If you don't want that to happen..."**_

" _ **What are you talking about? What is this?"**_ Jeremiah demanded, as Zero drew closer.

" _ **You'll do everything in your power to let us go. Your prisoner as well."**_

" _ **Right, understood. You there, release the prisoner."**_ Jeremiah replied, giving the order to the two men guarding Suzaku. _**"Get that man over here!**_ _**Hand him over. Nobody gets in his way."**_ As Jeremiah continued barking orders, Kewell Soresi, a fellow Purist, moved his Sutherland alongside Jeremiah, appearing to argue with his superior.

" _ **It's hard to tell what's happening from here, but it seems that Kururugi's release has been brokered!"**_ the announcer explained, as Suzaku was released , and met with Zero and his uniformed driver. At the same time, Kewell and Villetta closed their Sutherlands' cockpits, clearly preparing to gun Zero down, despite the still present threat of the gas container behind him.

" _ **Well then, 'til next time."**_ Zero announced. Seconds later, a cloud of purple-coloured gas erupted from the container, sending the crowds into a blind panic, all of them scrambling to get away. Even so, the fact that Zero, Suzaku and the driver were in such close proximity convinced me that the gas itself was harmless. After all, why go through the effort to free Suzaku, then release poison gas while you're still in the immediate vicinity?

" _ **You cowardly Eleven!"**_ Villetta yelled, opening fire just as Jeremiah's own Sutherland barrelled in, knocking her rifle skyward, causing her shots to miss completely. _**"Lord Jeremiah, what are you ...?"**_

" **You heard me! Stand down now!"** Jeremiah roared. Just then, Zero and the rest of the small group leaped off the side of the bridge, plummeting away.

" _ **They're not alone at all! They jumped right off!"**_ Kewell stated. As the three figure's fell, the camera revealed an MR-1 non-combat Knightmare, which used its Slash Harkens to launch some sort of net/blanket underneath the falling group. As they hit this, it stretched considerably, lowering them into an open train car waiting below. The train the immediately set off, quickly spiriting the group away from the bridge, just as Kewell opened fire from his new position, hanging of the side of the bridge by one of his Slash Harkens. His fire tore the MR-1 to shreds, as the pilot managed to eject. _**"You imbecile! There's nowhere for you to run!"**_ he shouted, just as Jeremiah dropped into a similar position beside him, his rifle aimed at Kewell's cockpit.

" _ **Lord Kewell! Are you going to follow orders or not?! And believe me, there will be repercussions! All units, do I make myself clear?! Do everything in your power to help them get away!"**_ Jeremiah commanded.

" _Jeremiah, just what the hell do you think you're doing?!_ " I thought. As soon as Zero played his hand, there was nothing keeping Jeremiah from either capturing Zero or gunning him down. And yet not only did Jeremiah fail to do so, he even went so far as to aid Zero's escape. _"One thing is certain; the Purist faction won't take too kindly to their leader's actions."_

Switching the TV off, I promptly collapsed back into the couch, letting out a frustrated groan. After these most recent events, the situation was now far more complicated. We now knew who the culprit was, but had no clue as to his actual identity. And as if that wasn't bad enough, the Purist faction would now be acting out of desperation, having just lost so much face as a result of Jeremiah's completely unexpected actions. Furthermore, there was the matter whatever this "Orange" thing that Zero mentioned was. Clearly, it was something that Jeremiah couldn't afford anyone else knowing. But even if it still remained a mystery, its very existence placed enormous scrutiny and suspicion on Jeremiah. Frankly, his had been a lose-lose situation. The question was; how damaging would this prove to be?

And to top it all off, a short while earlier I'd received word that Euphemia would be arriving in Area 11 sometime early tomorrow morning, as she would be serving as Sub Viceroy under Cornelia. Thus, I had to make sure that she had an adequate security detail assigned to her, as I would now be far too busy myself. With Jeremiah clearly unfit to command for the time being, I would now have to take over as Acting Viceroy, if only for a day or two.

* * *

 **25th March, 2017 a.t.b.**

 **9:38 am**

 **Tokyo Settlement, Area 11**

 **Viceroy's Palace of Area 11**

"My Lord, we've received word that Princess Euphemia's shuttle has just landed at the palace." The officer in front me explained. The man was part of Clovis' Royal Guard, but not a member of the Purists. I'd been very particular about that last detail, as recent events meant that the Purists weren't exactly reliable or predictable at present.

"I see, very good. Put together a security detail for the Princess, and make sure they're instructed to not let her out of their sights. Knowing Euphemia, she'll want to run off and explore the settlement at the first opportunity she gets. And seeing as I'm too busy to keep an eye on her myself, we need to ensure she remains within the palace until Cornelia arrives. Understood? I replied.

"Yes, my Lord. I'll see to it at once." The officer replied, before turning to leave.

"Before you go, there's one more thing I need you to do." I said, causing the man to halt and face me again.

"Yes, my Lord? What is it?" he asked. I leaned forward in my seat, lacing my hands together and resting my elbows on the desk in front of me.

"I need you to keep a close eye on the Purists for me. Given what occurred last night, I strongly suspect that Kewell and the others will be aiming to remove Jeremiah somehow, in an attempt to save face before Princess Cornelia arrives. If that is the case, then I want to know if and when they make any sort of move." I explained. "Hopefully we can use this as an opportunity to bring them under control before Her Highness arrives. But make sure they don't realise we're watching them, otherwise they might not do anything."

"Of course, my Lord. You can count on me."

"Good. And where are we regarding the 'Orange' investigation?"

"So far, my Lord, we've yet to uncover anything pertaining to 'Orange', as it stands we don't even have any solid leads yet."

"I see, that's a problem. Very well, continue with the investigation, and inform me if we find anything. Dismissed."

"Yes, my Lord." The officer replied, snapping off a sharp salute before swiftly exiting the room. I let out a tired sigh, leaning back into my seat. I'd already removed my gloves and jacket, with the gloves now stuffed into my pockets and the jacket draped over the back of my chair. I was currently sat within the same office where I'd first met Jeremiah following my arrival in Area 11, and had been here for the past hour and a half. As I was now serving as Acting Viceroy, I had to directly oversee all current operations and proceedings involved the operation of the entire Area. Thankfully, the majority of the work was handled by lower-ranking officers and civil servants; I just had to look over things and approve whatever needed approving. Honestly, it had turned out to not be extremely difficult, and was in fact surprisingly relaxing. It helped that the chair and desk I was using had been very well put together, providing excellent comfort while still being exceptionally functional. In addition, much of the current focus was on Zero, so much of the work needing to be done related back to the masked man in some way.

" _Ah ,bureaucracy, so much fun…not. At least I'll only have to do this until Cornelia arrives."_

* * *

 **4:46 pm**

That afternoon, I was just preparing to finish off the work I needed to take care of for the day. So far, everything had gone as well as could be expected. A good portion of my time had been spent attempting to clear up the multitude of connections between the administration, i.e. myself and the various civil servants and politicians responsible for running Area 11, and the police. Thanks to Jeremiah and the still mysterious "Orange", these connections had been screwed up to the point where communication either way was nearly impossible. After drafting in a few select people to help sort this out, we'd somehow managed to at least get the channels open and working again, although the present solution was far from perfect. At least it would do for the time being. Just as I was finishing up one last small issue, the officer I'd talked to that morning burst in, his panting evidence that he'd really booked it to get over here.

"My Lord, it-it's the Purists! They're on the move!" he exclaimed, as he remained hunched over, still slightly gasping for breath. I immediately leapt to my feet, grabbing my jacket at the same time.

"What are they planning?" I demanded. The officer managed to stop panting, and stood up straight.

"Lord Kewell plans to ambush Lord Jeremiah and execute him. They're using false information on Zero to lure Lord Jeremiah into a trap." The officer explained.

"Where?"

"The Shinjuku Ghetto, Sector 4, in an old sports stadium. Also, Lady Villetta has learned of this as well. She's already on her way there." I nodded in understanding, pulling my jacket and gloves back on.

"Right then, alert the hangar and tell them to prepare a Sutherland ASAP, Assault Rifle only. Excellent work, soldier." I replied.

"Sir, there's more. Princess Euphemia somehow managed to escape her security detail!

"What?!" I exclaimed. _"Damn it, Euphie!"_

"We're unsure of her exact location, but we last caught sight of her moving in the direction of Shinjuku."

"Right, then in that case, I'd better get going. Excellent work, soldier."

"Thank you sir. Good luck." The officer replied, snapping off a salute. [1] I returned it with my own, before dashing out of the office, racing down towards the palace's main KMF hangar. By the time I got there, I could see the officer had relayed my instructions perfectly; a single Sutherland carrying just a single Assault Rifle was ready to go, already locked into a Knightmare VTOL. This would allow me to get to Shinjuku as fast as possible, since I had no idea how long Jeremiah and Villetta would be able to hold out. Doubtless Kewell would have the two of them outnumbered. The technicians snapped to attention as I raced towards them. I quickly climbed up and jumped into the open cockpit, closing the hatch while strapping myself in as fast as I could manage before putting in my earpiece.

"This is Lieutenant Colonel Gavin, I'm in. Get us airborne. Destination is the old stadium in Shinjuku Ghetto Sector 4." I ordered, as I quickly brought the Sutherland online..

" _ **Yes sir, understood. Taking off now."**_ The VTOL pilot replied. I felt the Sutherland shudder, then the entire thing began tilting, as the pilot shifted my Knightmare into its face-down flight position, which left me slightly hanging in my straps, which turned out to be not entirely unbearable. Seconds later, I heard a rising whine, then more shuddering, as the VTOL lifted into air, gaining altitude before shifting into horizontal flight.

* * *

 **5:08 pm**

 **Tokyo Settlement, Area 11**

 **Near Shinjuku Stadium**

I Instructed the VTOL pilot to drop me off a short distance from the stadium. Otherwise, Kewell and his men would be alerted and pull out, if the battle hadn't already started. However, my fears were slightly assuaged, as I could see smoke rising from the stadium as I approached. At least I knew I wasn't early. As I drew closer, I could begin to hear the distinctive sounds of clashing weapons, as the battle within raged. Now close enough, I fired my Slash Harkens into the stadium wall ahead of me, using them as anchors to drive straight up the high wall. Vaulting over the top, I could see four Purist Sutherlands on one side, facing off against two other Purist Sutherlands, as well as another Knightmare, this one white and gold, carrying two red-bladed swords. From the reports I'd read, this was the Z-01 Lancelot, a prototype Seventh Generation Knightmare Frame. At the same time, out of the corner of my eye, I spotted a pink-haired figure running out onto the battlefield. Unfortunately, I barely had time to catch my breath, as the leading Purist Sutherland lowered its right arm, before tossing a small object into the air.

" _A Chaos Mine! Euphie!"_ Not wasting any time, I raised my rifle and opened fire as quickly as I could. The first couple of rounds missed, but the next few were right on the money, tearing the Chaos Mine to shreds before it went off. The resulting pieces crashed to the ground, as everyone down below looked towards me. "Lord Kewell, you will cease action and stand down! Now!" I ordered.

" _ **Stay out of this, boy! Or take you out as well!"**_ Kewell replied.

"In case you've forgotten, I am currently Acting Viceroy of Area 11! As such, you are under my command!" I shouted, training my rifle on Kewell's Sutherland. "And besides, I just saved you from making the biggest mistake of your life."

" _ **And what would that be?"**_

"If you paid attention, you'd see that the girl standing next to the Lancelot is Princess Euphemia li Britannia, the Third Imperial Princess! If I hadn't stopped you, you could've killed her! In which case, I can promise you wouldn't be leaving this stadium alive." I replied.

" _ **We-we're truly... We're truly sorry, your Highness!"**_ Kewell and his men proclaimed, their Sutherlands dropping one knee, as Suzaku exited the Lancelot and rushed over to Euphemia. I lowered my Sutherland's rifle, breathing a sigh of relief as I made my way down to the stadium floor.

"Princess Euphemia, in the future I must ask that you remain with any security detail that is assigned to you. Part of my duty is keeping you safe, but I can't follow my duty if I don't know where you are." I told the princess, who turned to face me, looking slightly solemn at my words. "Still, you're safe now, that's what matters." Euphemia visibly perked up at my words, clearly glad that I wasn't too upset with her. There was no point, since she'd made it out unharmed, and Cornelia would no doubt reprimand her properly at a later time.

* * *

 **9:38 pm**

 **Tokyo Settlement, Area 11**

 **Viceroy's Palace of Area 11**

After we returned to the palace, I had Euphemia give me an explanation as to her whereabouts today, and exactly why she'd elected to run off. As it turned out, my assumption that she'd want to wander around the settlement had been spot on. Thankfully, Euphemia had been a student up until now, so she wasn't known to the public except by name, thus there was almost no chance of her being recognised. I also learned that she'd run into Suzaku, and that he'd accompanied her throughout the day, so at least she'd been entirely without protection, even if Suzaku had had no idea who she really was.

Presently, the two of us were standing on the palace runway between two long rows of guards, as Cornelia's transport touched down. I knew that a second transport, carrying her Gloucester, as well as mine, would be arriving shortly afterwards. Cornelia gently disembarked the aircraft, clad in her usual attire, complete with cape and her typical stern expression. Clearly, she'd already heard about Euphemia's little…exploration. As she approached, I could see Euphemia wringing her hands slightly, as well as the civil servant stood off to our left.

"I heard what you did, Euphemia. You shouldn't be so reckless." Cornelia said, as she stood a few metres in front of us.

"I know, Sister. Forgive me. But..." Euphemia began, before Cornelia interrupted her.

"You will address me as Viceroy here, Sub-Viceroy Euphemia. Because we're sisters we need to follow a stricter protocol." She explained.

"Yes, I understand." Euphemia replied, to which Cornelia nodded.

"Good." She said, turning to me. "Lieutenant Colonel, I must commend you for your performance. You've managed to keep things under control despite everything that's occurred in the last few days."

"Thank you, your Highness." I replied.

"Hm." Cornelia acknowledged, turning her attention to the civil servant next to us, who was now looking decidedly nervous. " Now then, give me your report."

" Yes, my Lady. The first order of business is a welcome party we've arranged for your Highness and... Oh!" he replied, gasping as Cornelia drew her Rifle Sword, levelling it at his chest.

" Sloppy, senile, corrupt." She said, speaking slowly and deliberately. "Where is Zero? I want the enemy of the Empire caught! Get Zero!" she demanded, as the official paled even further, which only caused me to chuckle internally.

" _Looks like things are going to get pretty exciting around here now."_

* * *

 **AN:** And that rounds off Chapter 5! Hope you all enjoyed it, as it was definitely fun to write, particularly the interactions between my OC and the Purists. Trust me, the next chapter will have a bit more of that, so it should be good fun to write out. And now that we're all caught up with the show, the chapters should start coming a bit more quickly than before, although don't expect weekly updates. I can't work quite that fast.

Anyway, that's enough from me. Please do continue to enjoy the story, and please to leave a review if there's anything you'd like to say. Just refrain from any flaming, since that doesn't help anyone.

Anzac-A1, out!

 **[1]:** I hadn't originally planned on it, but this Britannian officer WILL return in future chapters as a proper character, name and everything. So I'd like to ask you guys for name and appearance suggestions. If you have any, either PM me or include them in your reviews. The person whose idea/s I end up using will get a mention at the start of the next chapter in which this officer makes an appearance.


	6. Chapter 6: Attack Cornelia

**AN:** Hey all, Anzac-A1 here, back with the latest instalment of CG: ANS – BMR (abbreviated it 'cause it's a pain to write the title out in full every time. This chapter, I'm certain, includes a few bits that you've all been hoping would happen soon, so please do let me know if you enjoyed them. Also, feel free to try and list them all in a review, if you want. First person to spot them all will get a mention at the start of the next chapter.

Without further ado, I present to you…Chapter 6! Enjoy!

" _12345"_ = Thoughts.

" _ **678910"**_ = Radio, cell phones, TV etc.

* * *

 **25th March, 2017 a.t.b.**

 **10:04 pm**

 **Tokyo Settlement, Area 11**

 **Viceroy's Palace of Area 11**

Following Cornelia's arrival, and her brief tirade against the civil servant who had greeted her, who I felt slightly sorry for, we made our way back inside the palace, Guilford and Darlton joining us after having disembarked from the plane as well. The hulking general soon departed from our little group, explaining that he had some matters to attend to before retiring for the evening. Cornelia voiced her agreement, then instructed Guilford to escort Euphemia to her chambers, explaining that there a few things she wished to discuss with me privately. The bespectacled knight nodded, making his way off with the bubbly young princess in tow. I followed Cornelia, as she led us on a slightly winding route through the gigantic structure, eventually arriving at a set of incredibly ornate doors, which for a building like this was really saying something. Cornelia opened on of the doors, which must've had some sort of assisting mechanism, as it opened for to easily for its size, and motioned for me to follow her, which I did, allowing the door to close itself behind me.

The room itself was as impressive as expected, yet surprisingly modest at the same time. A large, sleek, modern king size bed was against the far wall, with two glass doors beside it that led out onto what I assumed was yet another balcony. The walls were painted in a warm lavender colour, which nicely complemented the slightly cream carpet that covered the floor. There were several bookshelves, some occupied with tactical books, whereas others had novels that would take several solid days or perhaps even weeks to read. A moderately sized oak table with four chairs around it sat about five or six metres and slightly off to the left of where I was standing. Cornelia took a few steps further in, removing her cape and draping it over the back of one of the chairs before turning back to face me.

"Now then Matthew, can you first explain exactly how Euphemia ended up wandering around the settlement completely unescorted, despite what I instructed?" she asked. Thankfully, both her voice and demeanour told me she wasn't angry with me, just rather annoyed.

"Sorry about that, Cornelia." I replied, using her first name as she had already used my own, indicating that it okay to speak in a more informal manner. "I ordered Major Dixon to assign a detail to Euphemia as soon as I was informed of her arrival [1]. However, she apparently snuck away shortly after, by jumping out of a window." At this, Cornelia's eyes widened slightly, clearly not expecting her sister to try something that crazy.

"And how is that my sister isn't currently in the hospital?"

"Luckily, Private Kururugi happened to be passing underneath the window at the time, and managed to catch her. According to Euphemia, she spent the rest of the day with him, which is how she ended up in the middle of the Purist's battle."

"Well at least she's safe. But in future, you are to remain at her side at all times, except when I order you to do otherwise, alright?"

"I understand." I replied, at which her expression became stern once again.

"Good." She replied, before continuing. "Now, onto slightly more pressing matters. We need to decide what to do regarding actions of the Purist faction. While their reckless and frankly idiotic actions warrant a court-martial, we can't afford to lose any of our forces while Zero remains in play. But we still to make an example of them, to ensure that this never happens again. Do you have any suggestions?"

"I've given it some thought, and I believe I've come up with a workable solution."

"Excellent. We'll take care of that in the next day or two. We've located the base of one of the stronger terrorist groups in Area 11, and I plan on attacking them tomorrow. If we're lucky, Zero might be working with them, in which case we'll solve two problems at the same time."

"Of course. Is there anything else you wanted to discuss?" I asked. Cornelia smiled at this, which made me more than a little confused.

"Actually, yes." She replied, as she slowly approached me, a sly smile on her lips. "I wanted to properly reward you. For saving Euphemia's life." She explained, as she stopped just in front of me, to the point where she was almost standing on my feet. I started to feel uncomfortably hot for some reason.

"Th-That's not necessary, Cornelia. A-After all, I was just following your orders." I stammered, slightly distracted by close proximity to me. Unfortunately, her sly smile simply grew larger as she gently grasped my chin with right hand, her glove warm and soft against my skin. I suddenly felt very trapped, with no obvious way out.

"It's not an offer, it's an order." Cornelia replied, her voice now _very_ alluring. She then leaned forward, gently placing a kiss on my right cheek. Immediately I felt my cheeks heat up, as a shiver ran through my entire body, followed by a pleasurable warmth. After a few seconds I was released, feeling slightly disappointed that the moment was now over, although I made an effort to let my disappointment show, lest Cornelia took it the wrong way. "Now was that so awful? Good night, Matthew." Cornelia said, before ushering me out the door. It was only once I was outside, alone in the corridor that my brain was finally able to process what had just happened. I couldn't help it, as a big smile worked its way onto my face.

" _She…she kissed me?!"_ I thought, having a hard time accepting that it had really happened. _"I'd better hope Euphemia doesn't find out about this, or she'll never let me hear the end of it. But who knows? She may be more right than she realises. We'll just have to wait and see."_ With that thought, I headed off in the direction of my own room, still struggling to wipe the smile off my face.

" _Also, when did Cornelia gain a mischievous side? I think she's more like Euphie than she realises."_

* * *

 **27th March, 2017 a.t.b.**

 **9:51 am**

"I assume you all know why you've been called here, correct?" Cornelia asked, addressing the three uniformed figures standing before her. Currently, we were located in the Viceroy's office within the palace, with Cornelia sat behind the same desk that I'd been using less than 48 hours prior. I was stood to Cornelia's left, while Guilford was stood to her right, looking as fierce as he always did. Across from us stood Jeremiah, Villetta, and Kewell. Unlike the last time we'd met, Jeremiah's expression was much more subdued, not surprising given what he'd gone through recently. As far as he was concerned, his career was as good as done.

"Yes, your Highness." They all chorused.

"Good. Now then, as the Lieutenant Colonel here," Cornelia began, gesturing in my direction. "Was more or less in charge here during these recent events, I have decided that he will be the one decide what your punishment will be for your recent failures." She explained, at which point I stepped forward, positioning myself in front of the three Purists, while standing slightly to side so as to not block Cornelia's view. As I did so, I couldn't help but take delight in the pent-up rage obvious on Kewell's face, despite his best attempts to hide it.

"Lord Jeremiah," I started, looking the Margrave directly in the eye. "Regarding the matter of Zero's first appearance and subsequent rescue of Suzaku Kururugi, you claim to have no memory of aiding Zero's escape in any way, correct?"

"Yes, I can't explain how, but I honestly do not remember anything." Jeremiah replied, sounding incredibly humbled for first time since I'd met him. I nodded in understanding, as I started to slowly pace back and for the in front of the man.

"I've looked over your record, Lord Jeremiah, and I can honestly say that it is virtually flawless. Until Zero appeared, the only previous incident worthy of note was the unfortunate and tragic assassination of the late Empress Marianne, who you served during your time as a member of the Imperial Guards. However, on the day of her death, you and the rest of the guards had been dismissed from duty, so no fault can be attributed to you for that." I explained, before continuing on. "Likewise, when Prince Clovis was assassinated, as we now know, by Zero, your Knightmare had been put out of action, and you were too far away to have prevented His Highness' death, so once again, no blame can be placed on you for that. And as for the most recent incident, the fact that we have yet to find even a shred of evidence relating to this 'Orange' thing that Zero mentioned tells me that your account is genuine."

"Th-Thank you for believing me." Jeremiah replied, as he let out a sigh of relief.

"However, you must still be punished for your recent failure. Given your dedication to the Empire and your years of loyal service, I have decided that neither you, nor any of your subordinates shall be court-martialled for your actions." I explained. "Instead, for the time being your unit will be placed under my command until I decide otherwise. You're a good man, Lord Jeremiah. And I see no reason to demote you simply because of one incident. Do you agree with my decision?"

"Yes, my Lord." Jeremiah replied.

"I have no doubt that you will." I replied, turning my attention to Villetta, who stood by Jeremiah's right shoulder. "Miss Nu, the only issue regarding you that must be addressed, is that when you deployed in order to defend Lord Jeremiah, you did so without informing anyone of your intentions. I only learned of your decision to do so through Major Dixon, who I'd tasked with keeping an eye on your unit. Make sure that this doesn't happen again, understood?"

"Yes, my Lord." Villetta replied, her expression giving no hint as to what she was thinking. I nodded, before fixing my gaze on Kewell, who I had deliberately ignored until now.

"As for you, Kewell, you have much to answer for. Blatant insubordination, attempted murder of a superior officer, and on top of that, your actions very nearly resulted in Princess Euphemia's death. Honestly, your failure is perhaps the most severe." Almost in the same instant I finished speaking, Kewell's expression changed, to one of complete and utter indignation.

"You can't be serious!" he shouted, stepping forward before pointing to Jeremiah. " _Orange_ here is the one to blame! He-!"

"Lord Kewell!" I roared, causing the man to immediately shut his mouth. He clearly hadn't expected me to sound so intimidating, and quite frankly I was surprised as well. "Stand down …now." I ordered. Kewell said nothing as he stepped back into line, his face that of man who realised he'd very nearly made a terrible mistake. "As I was about to say, you are on very thin ice right now, Kewell. I will ignore your outburst for now, but any further insubordination WILL result in your immediate court-martial. Am I clear?"

"Yes…my Lord." Kewell replied, through noticeably gritted teeth.

"Good. You're all hereby dismissed. You may return to your regular duties." I instructed. The three officers saluted, albeit very grudgingly on Kewell's part, and quickly filed out of the room. Now that I was once more surrounded by those who actually knew who I really was, I let out an audible sigh of relief.

"Well at least that's taken care of." I admitted, with Guilford and Cornelia nodding in agreement.

"Yes, though Kewell's outburst was hardly out of character for him. I understand he's resented Jeremiah for some time now, although I don't know the full details myself." Guilford commented.

"In any case, I believe that this was the most sensible way to deal with our little problem." Cornelia added.

"I hope so. I'd wager Jeremiah will be bent on capturing or killing Zero in an effort to redeem himself. We just have to careful that he doesn't act recklessly in the process." I advised. Despite knowing more about the Margrave than I had earlier, it remained to be seen how Jeremiah would act if Zero were to show himself again.

"That may be true, but at this point there's no sense in concerning ourselves with what may or may not happen." Cornelia announced, rising from her seat and stepping out from behind the desk. "Guilford, has everything been prepared?"

"Yes, your Highness. We've pinpointed the location of the terrorist group calling themselves the Blood of the Samurai, and our forces are ready to mobilise on your command." Guilford replied, taking his usual place behind Cornelia's right shoulder.

"In that case, let's not waste any time. I want to get this over with quickly." Cornelia replied, turning her attention to me. "Matthew, I want you to accompany Darlton on his visit to the Special Corps. I want to know exactly what the Lancelot is capable of, otherwise it might as well just be a fancy showpiece. While Darlton is doing that, I'd like you to head to Ashford Academy and meet Suzaku Kururugi face to face. Aside from informing him of his promotion, see if you can get a feel for his character. I need to know if we can trust an Eleven with such a powerful weapon."

"I understand." I replied.

* * *

 **10:36 am**

 **Tokyo Settlement, Area 11**

 **Tokyo Technical Institute (TTI)**

We strode through the large doors and into the lobby of the busy building, filled with various personnel in orange overall-style uniforms hurrying around the place, as Darlton started scanning the crowd for someone.

"Who exactly are we looking for, sir?" I asked, glancing around.

"Her." Darlton replied, pointing to a young woman with indigo hair in an orange uniform, albeit much more military-like than those of her co-workers. Her eyes seemed to light up as she spotted Darlton and myself making our way over to her.

"Lieutenant Colonel, this is Cécile Croomy, assistant to Professor Asplund. Miss Croomy, this is Lieutenant Colonel Gavin of Princess Cornelia's Royal Guard and one of her military advisors" Darlton said, getting the introductions out of the way.

"Please, call me Cécile." the woman replied, smiling warmly whilst offering me a hand, which I immediately shook.

"In that case, call me Matthew." I responded, returning her smile with one of my own. Cécile nodded, before turning to Darlton.

"I assume you're here for the inspection?" she asked.

"Indeed we are." He replied.

"In that case, please follow me." Cécile took the lead, guiding us through a few short passages, which soon emptied into a sizeable hangar area within the building. Inside, the white Knightmare Frame Lancelot was the obvious centrepiece, with various technicians swarming both on and around it. In addition to this, numerous cables connected the unit to many banks of instruments and computers, seemingly monitoring every iota of the machine's condition.

"Ah General, so good to see you!" a happy, high-pitched voice exclaimed, as a man with lavender hair, glasses and wearing a white lab coat sauntered (AN: Yes, I said "sauntered. Have you SEEN the way Lloyd walks?! I swear the man must be gay!) over to us.

"Professor Asplund." Darlton replied. Clearly, Darlton was either completely oblivious to the man's…mannerisms, or he was simply used to them.

"Please, please. Call me Lloyd, General." The man, now identified as Lloyd Asplund, tutted, before fixing his gaze on me. Which instantly made me feel slightly uncomfortable. "And you must be the man that Suzaku mentioned, Lieutenant Colonel Gavin, was it?" he inquired, leaning forward until he was well within my personal space.

"Quite right, it's a pleasure to meet you." I replied, putting on my best show of politeness. Anything to get this weird man to back off a little.

"The pleasure's all mine, Colonel." Lloyd stated. "Now then General, I believe you came for an explanation of my baby's capabilities, yes?" Darlton nodded in agreement, as Lloyd led him over to the machine in question, chattering the whole way, and leaving Cécile and I on our own.

"Well that was…interesting." I commented, turning to Cécile. "How do you put up with _that_ on a daily basis?"

"Honestly, I wonder myself sometimes." She replied, letting out a frustrated sigh.

"I certainly don't envy you, that's for sure." I admitted. "Now then, Princess Cornelia requested that I meet with Suzaku personally, do you know where he is at the moment?"

"Hmm." Cécile hummed. "He should be in class right now. He's attending Ashford Academy just across the road. Would you like me to guide you?"

"No need Cécile, I'll manage on my own. Besides, you're needed here. I look forward to meeting you again." I explained.

"Of course. I'll look forward to that as well, Matthew. Take care." Cécile responded, flashing another smile as I left the room.

* * *

 **10:50 am**

 **Tokyo Settlement, Area 11**

 **Ashford Academy, Student Council Room**

A short time later, I found myself standing in the Student Council room inside the sprawling Ashford Academy. Shortly after arriving on campus, I'd managed to catch one of the faculty members, who appeared quite shocked when she recognised my uniform. After assuring the poor, frightened woman that nothing was wrong, I asked where I could find Suzaku. She explained that he was still in class, but that I could head to the Student Council room and wait for him there. Apparently, Suzaku had joined the Student Council in order to fulfil the school's requirement that all students join one of the many clubs available. As a result, I was now stuck in this admittedly cosy room, waiting for the man in question to arrive.

The room itself was nothing amazing; a long table in the centre, a computer in one corner, a series of tall windows running along one wall, and a cat tower in the corner opposite the computer, currently occupied by a slightly pudgy grey cat. Said cat had apparently woken up when I entered, and I proceeded to give a scratch behind the ears by means of an apology. The cat purred in response and then went back to sleep, apparently satisfied with my apology. As I turned my attention to the lovely view provided by the expansive windows, I began to hear a faint sound coming from the corridor, which sounded vaguely like people talking. As I continued to listen, the sound got louder and more audible, eventually morphing into discernible words, followed by the sound of the door sliding open and multiple footsteps entering the room.

"Aw come on, Prez! You don't really mean that! I-." The boy making said plea quickly went quiet, as the group evidently noticed my presence. As I turned around, placing my arms behind my back and putting on a serious look in an effort to look every bit the intimidating Royal Guard, I could now get a proper look at the new arrivals.

The group consisted of a total of seven people; four girls and three guys. One of the boys was instantly recognisable as Suzaku thanks to his distinctive, slightly curly brown hair. Next to him was a relatively skinny boy of similar height, sporting short, raven hair and striking purple eyes. The other boy possessed a frankly messy head of blue hair, and stood about as tall as his compatriots. Two of girls appeared to be either slightly meek or just naturally shy, and sported bright red and dark green hair respectively. Another girl seemed much more cheerful, with her orange hair reaching quite a ways down her back, complemented nicely by her bright, green eyes. The final girl, positioned in the middle of the group, boasted an impressive…figure, with shoulder-length blonde hair and very attractive blue-grey eyes. Currently, all of them apart from Suzaku were staring at me with wide eyes, clearly having not expected my presence at all. I decided to get the formal stuff out of the way, before anyone started to properly freak out.

"Suzaku Kururugi, correct?" I asked, looking directly at the boy in question, who immediately straightened up.

"Yes, that's me." He replied.

"Then it would seem I came to the right place. I am Lieutenant Colonel Matthew Gavin, member of Her Royal Highness Princess Cornelia's Royal Guard." I said, introducing myself.

"I-I apologise for not addressing you properly, my Lord!" Suzaku stammered, snapping off a salute, which I dismissed with a wave of my hand.

"No harm done. In any case, my visit is only formal in part. Specifically, I'm here to inform you that, in light of your recent actions, Princess Cornelia has decided to promote you from Private to Warrant Officer. Congratulations." I explained, at which point everyone's eyes went even wider, if that was possible.

"What exactly would those actions be?" the raven-haired boy asked.

"I'm afraid I'm not allowed to divulge that information." I replied. "In any case, you can relax now, Suzaku."

"Thank you, sir. But what made you decide to come here? After all, you could've told about the promotion while I was on duty." Suzaku wondered.

"True, but I also wanted to meet you in person. Given recent events, I guess my curiosity got the better of me." I explained, dropping my 'tough soldier' act. "In any case, would you mind introducing me to your fellow students?" I asked, moving so that I was now closer to the small group.

Suzaku quickly ran me through the names of the other students; Lelouch Lamperouge (raven-haired boy), Rivalz Cardemonde (blue haired boy), Kallen Stadtfeld (red-haired girl), Nina Einstein (green-haired girl), Shirley Fenette (orange-haired girl), and finally Milly Ashford (blonde girl). For some inexplicable reason, as Milly offered me her hand to shake, I grasped he hand with my own, before bending down and planting a light kiss on the back of her hand, eliciting a slight gasp not only from Milly, but from everyone else too.

"A pleasure to meet you, Miss Ashford." I said, putting on my warmest smile. For some reason, I felt the same attraction to Milly that I usually felt towards Cornelia. Milly smiled back, as a light flush coloured her pale cheeks [2].

"The pleasure's mine, Mister Gavin. And they say chivalry is dead." She replied, her voice just as sweet and melodic as her appearance would have led you to believe.

"Not yet. And call me Matthew, 'Mister' makes me feel old." I replied, letting go of her hand.

"In that case, you can call me 'Milly'." She replied.

"So, how long have you been in Area 11, Colonel?" Shirley asked.

"About four days now. Princess Cornelia sent me on ahead while she was wrapping things up in Area 18." I explained.

"Area 18? Wait, then that means you must be the one everyone's calling the 'Desert Fox'." Lelouch announced.

"They are? Guess I hadn't noticed. I haven't exactly been paying attention to the news lately. Things have been too busy." I replied, deciding to take a sea, since I was probably going to be here a little while longer. "Although I don't mind saying that I quite like the name."

"Let me guess, because of Zero?" Rivalz asked.

"Yeah, and not just that." I sighed. "First, I had to convince those idiot Purebloods that my orders here were genuine. Then, after Zero showed up, I had to take over as Acting Viceroy, and on top of that, Princess Euphemia decided to escape her security detail, and almost ended up getting herself killed after getting caught up in the Purebloods' infighting."

"Wait, Princess Euphemia was nearly killed?!" Nina gasped.

"Yes. Thankfully, I'd suspected the Purebloods would attempt something to get rid of Jeremiah, in an effort to save face. So I had Major Dixon keep an eye on them, and alert me if they made any moves. So everything worked out in the end." I explained. "But now we've got Zero to deal with. And so far, we don't know anything about the guy. That's if Zero even is a guy. Could easily be a woman."

"I know what you mean. After meeting him in person, all I can say is that he truly believes in what he's doing, so he won't give up." Suzaku added.

"Exactly." I replied, standing back up. "And that's why Princess Cornelia's planning an to conduct an operation within the Saitama Ghetto sometime tomorrow."

"Really? But why?" Milly asked, with everyone except Lelouch now wearing a concerned expression.

"The official reason is we've learned that a terrorist group calling themselves the 'Yamato Alliance' is currently using the area as a hideout. Eliminating them will mean one less active threat to the stability of Area 11." I explained. "But the true objective is to draw out Zero, and either capture or kill him."

"That makes sense, but how can you be sure Zero will show up?" Lelouch asked.

"A fair question. After all, we know almost nothing about Zero, much less where he operates from." I replied. "But it's actually quite simple; we plan on announcing the operation and its start time early tomorrow."

"But won't that just give him a reason to stay away?" Shirley asked.

"No, it'll give him every reason _to_ show up." I replied. "From Zero's actions thus far, we've managed to discern two things about him. One; he has a penchant for the dramatic, as evidenced by his rescue of you, Suzaku. A far more sensible and logical approach would've been to either attempt to break you out of your cell, or to rescue at some other point during the transfer. Instead, Zero chose the most public spot in which to do it. And two; he has some sort of personal grudge against the Royal Family."

"How do you figure that? I mean, he did kill Prince Clovis, but that doesn't necessarily mean anything, does it?" Kallen asked.

"At first, I thought that too. But think about it; if your objective is to simply disrupt the chain of command, then killing someone like a general makes a lot more sense. They would be high enough up the chain that their death would seriously affect our ability to conduct military operations, yet low enough that the security around them wouldn't be too tight. Instead, Zero went for the most high profile and heavily guarded target that he possibly could. The fact that he ignored such obvious risks suggests that there's some personal reason for his actions. If we're able to capture him, then we we'll be able to find out exactly what that reason is."

"In that case, I wish you the best of luck, Colonel." Lelouch said.

"I appreciate it." I replied, before quickly checking the time on my phone. "Damn, time flies. I should get going. It was nice meeting all of you." Everyone said their respective goodbyes, although Milly elected to give me a tight hug instead. As I was exiting the room, I stopped and turned back to Suzaku. "Hey, Suzaku."

"Yes, what is it?" Suzaku replied.

"Just so you know, I'll be your commanding officer for the foreseeable future. So if there's anything you need, let me know." I said.

"Thank you Colonel, I will." Suzaku replied.

"Good. Okay, take care, you guys." I said, closing the door behind me.

* * *

 **28th March, 2017 a.t.b.**

 **9:30 am**

 **On the outskirts of the Saitama Ghetto, Area 11**

 **G-1 Base**

The next day, I was once again stood inside the bridge of the massive vehicle known as the G-1 Base, located just on the outskirts of the Saitama Ghetto. Like Shinjuku, the area looked as if the One Month War had just ended; bombed and blasted buildings surrounded by piles of broken concrete and twisted steel. It was hard to believe that people still lived in such a place, but then it wasn't like they had a choice. This was how Britannia kept them in check; forcing them to live in the broken remains of their homes would keep their spirits broken as well. A cruel tactic, but an effective one nonetheless.

" _I really don't like operating like this, but there's nothing I can do about it. Besides, when you're dealing with terrorists in a situation like this, it's nearly impossible to tell whether someone's an innocent civilian or not."_ I thought.

Outside, what remained of the Purist faction was stationed around the G-1, acting as the base's last line of defense. I'd chosen this assignment for them on the basis that while it was still an important duty, it wasn't as influential as being on the front line. That way, Jeremiah and the others could begin to redeem themselves, without it looking as if they were being treated with too much leniency. Meanwhile, all routes leading into and out of the ghetto had been secured by an assortment of Sutherlands, tanks and infantry, effectively cutting the area off from the rest of Tokyo. If Zero wasn't already there, he would have an almost impossible time getting in.

In the bridge, I was standing over by the main briefing table and main front monitors, along with General Darlton and several other officers. Guilford was, of course, located at his Princess' left, Cornelia herself currently residing on her throne towards the rear of the bridge.

"The Saitama Ghetto is now completely surrounded. The Yamato Alliance's hideout is located somewhere in here. Half the people in this neighbourhood are co-operating with them." Darlton explained, as the main monitor switched to an overhead tactical view of the soon-to-be battlefield. "So if we proceed now-"

"What'll be the effect on production?" Cornelia interrupted.

"Primary sector output should decrease by 0.2%." Darlton replied.

"Within expectations, you mean. Alright." Cornelia replied. "All of you here participated in the Shinjuku Disaster, is that correct?" she asked, addressing three men standing off to her right. All three had been members of Prince Clovis' military staff during the incident, and had all somehow managed to survive and retain their positions.

"Yes, and we're indebted to you, Princess Cornelia, for your mercy." One of the men replied.

"That's not what I'm asking. Do you think the conditions are similar?"

"Huh?"

"To those in Shinjuku." she explained, a slightly chilling smile now gracing her features.

"Yes, your Highness. Other than the layout of the area, I'd say it's almost a perfect match." The officer replied.

"I see, excellent." Cornelia replied, before turning back to face the entire room. "Zero is a criminal, with a flair for the theatrical. I've recreated the same conditions that existed in Shinjuku in order to draw him out. If he's the overconfident type, I predict he'll come here to try and kill me."

"Viceroy! You'd really risk your own life like this?" the officer from earlier asked.

"What you fail to understand is war is a struggle between pride and life." Cornelia replied. "Sometimes it's necessary to abandon one's personal pride for the sake of achieving results."

" _I certainly can't fault her for that."_ I thought.

"Now then, it's time. All units, begin the attack!" Cornelia ordered. Immediately, the orders began pouring out to the numerous units stationed around the ghetto. As I watched, the icons on the started moving forward, and almost immediately their progress reports started flowing in. The intial, fast-paced attack, designed to wipe out the ones in charge of the ghetto's population was over in a matter of minutes, a testament to the ruthless efficiency of the Britannian military.

"We're done sweeping away those in charge." Darlton reported.

"It's nearly time to set our plan into motion. So shall we begin?" Cornelia replied.

"Right. Attention all forces; commence eradication of the Saitama Ghetto." Darlton ordered. "All forces, assume Level One battle stations!" On this order, the G-1 shuddered, as the Sutherlands currently onboard launched. At the same time, all of our forces began advancing, crushing anything that stood in their way.

" _ **Suppression of Area Four complete. Eighth and Eleventh Mechanised Infantry companies are sweeping North and South in a pincer movement."**_

"B-12, suppression complete."

"F-7 , no sign of the enemy."

"Paladin Team, change course to 5-1-6."

" _ **Yes, my Lord. Moving to 5-1-6."**_ Came the reply, as two Knightmare icons on the screen changed direction, now moving northwest. Suddenly, both Sutherlands disappeared, their icons replaced by 'Lost' beacons. Shortly after, more casualty reports came pouring in.

"Getzer Team, contact lost!"

"Enemy spotted in District G-4-7."

"Kazinski Team engaging. They were ambushed."

"The enemy appears to be using Sutherlands, captured from our own forces."

"Exactly the same as Shinjuku." One of the Clovis officers remarked.

"Has there been any sign of Zero yet?" another asked. I looked over to Cornelia, but she said nothing, her expression remaining the same; calm and calculating. After all, she had expected this right from the start. Minutes later, a series of powerful explosions rocked one of the main bridges leading out of the ghetto. The entire structure collapsed into the water below, taking with it the dozen or so units stationed on the bridge.

"Point 1-7 has fallen! Halley Team, contact lost!"

"That's enough. Order all troops to fall back. Further damage and casualties serve no point." Cornelia announced.

"Fall back?!" one of the Clovis officers exclaimed, all three of them stepping in front of Cornelia. "With all due respect, we can still fight them!"

"We can't fight them like this." Cornelia replied.

" _She's right; it's just when the German Army tried to capture Stalingrad in August of 1942. When you're fighting in a destroyed urban environment like this, it's the smaller, more flexible force that has the advantage. While it's certainly possible for the larger force to win, the casualties they'll suffer would make it a pyrrhic victory at best."_ I mused.

"All forces, fall back behind Ghetto Perimeter at once!" Darlton ordered. "Formation doesn't matter! Fall back behind Ghetto Perimeter at once!" As I watched, a steady stream of Sutherlands emerged from the ghetto, coming in from various directions.

"Zero is no match, I'll win." Cornelia confidently boasted.

"Huh?" on of the Clovis officers muttered.

"Of course. That's why they call Princess Cornelia the Goddess of Victory." Darlton said.

"Shall we go then, Guilford, my Knight?" Cornelia asked, looking up at the bespectacled Knight, who turned and bowed to her.

"It is my pleasure to serve and obey you, my Lady." Guilford replied, before leaving the bridge, heading for his Gloucester. Shortly after, he and the rest of the Royal Guard departed, heading back into the now empty ghetto. As we waited, a single IFF marker appeared on-screen, located well within the ghetto area.

"One Knightmare left, transmitting an IFF signal within the city area." Darlton reported.

"Can't you contact it?" one of the Clovis officers asked.

"Scramble a rescue team!" another ordered. Cornelia was about to interrupt them when I beat her to it.

"Belay that order. Destroy it." I announced.

"You can't!" one of the officers protested. "He might be a captive of the enemy!"

"No. All forces were ordered to fall back already. Minus our losses and those units reported missing, all of our forces are accounted for." I explained. "So that unit can only be one of the hijacked Sutherlands that were reported earlier."

"A very astute observation, Colonel." Cornelia remarked, at which I turned around to face her.

"You're too kind, your Highness." I replied, giving a slight bow.

"In any case, I want you to take command for now. I'd like to see how well you'll handle the situation." She instructed.

"Yes, your Highness!" I replied, turning back to the main monitor, where I could see the icons for Guilford and two other Gloucesters, as they neared the captured Sutherland's signal. "Lord Guilford, destroy that Knightmare at once! Attack from three sides, leave no room for escape!"

" _ **As you command."**_ Guilford later, all three Gloucesters converged on the Sutherlands, which disappeared instantly, a 'Lost' beacon in its place. Shortly after that, another IFF signal appeared, then started to fall back, away from Guilford's position. The Knight immediately began pursuit, the other two Gloucesters following him.

"Another signal, huh? And he's falling back, which means…" I muttered. "They've set an ambush! Lord Guilford, hold position! Call in more Gloucesters and surround that point!"

" _ **Understood."**_ Guilford replied. _ **"Madsen, Alistair, spread out and hold position. Henley, Crusoe, move in hold position to the rear."**_

"All units, move in!" I ordered.

" _ **Colonel, no sign of the enemy."**_ Guilford reported.

"So, you anticipated my move, Zero. Well done." I remarked.

" _ **Colonel, there are terrorists at our location, attempting to surrender. What should we do with them?"**_ Guilford asked.

" _Normally I'd say to capture them, but these guys are trying to save their own skins."_ I thought. "Kill them." Even though I couldn't see it on the screen, I knew that the Gloucesters' torso-mounted machine guns would make quick work of the terrorists. "Henley, move to 4-8-0 and hold position. You'll be acting as a decoy."

" _ **Yes my Lord, understood."**_ Came the reply.

"Excellent. Lord Guilford, move and hold position approximately one hundred metres to Henley's rear. When the terrorists attack, strike them from above."

" _ **Understood."**_ Guilford replied, moving into position as I'd instructed. As expected, one of the terrorists couldn't resist and attempted to attack Henley from behind. Unfortunately for him, Guilford was too fast, launching his Gloucester into the air before striking the Sutherland from above like bolt of lightning, causing the machine to explode into a ball of flames. Without giving me more than a few moments to wait, another signal appeared, directly north of Madsen and Alistair's position.

"Madsen, Alistair, you know what to do!" I ordered.

" _ **Yes, my Lord!"**_ they replied, attacking the Sutherland head-on. Impressively, the terrorist managed to destroy the left arm of Madsen's Gloucester, but this small victory failed to stop the two Gloucesters from destroying him.

" _That makes all captured units accounted for and eliminated."_ I thought. "Princess, all captured units and other terrorists have been eliminated."

"Excellent work. Order all forces to assemble in front of the G-1, Formation Number Four." Cornelia ordered. On her word, the Sutherlands all fell into a column formation, as Guilford and the other Gloucesters returned. "This didn't work out the way it did in Shinjuku, Zero. So are you still masquerading as one of us? We'll discover who you are shortly."

"Princess, all Knightmare's have assumed formation as ordered." Darlton announced.

"Very good." Cornelia replied. "Attention all Knightmare pilots. Open your hatches and reveal your faces!"

"Checkmate, Zero." I remarked.

"Ha. I repeat; all pilots open your hatches and show me your faces!" Cornelia ordered. The Sutherlands shifted into a single line, with the pilots opening their hatches and standing up, as Guilford moved down the line, inspecting each pilot one at a time. Eventually, I noticed that Guilford had stopped completely, and was now facing one Sutherland. For some reason, the pilot had yet to open his hatch up.

" _It must be him. That has to be Zero."_ I thought.

" _ **Zero's been sighted!"**_ The announcement snapped me out of my thoughts, as the monitors now displayed an image of the masked man himself, standing atop a partially collapsed building.

"Ah ha, I was right! Zero has a flair for the dramatic!" Cornelia exclaimed.

"What are you all doing?! All units, open fire!" I shouted. The units nearest to Zero immediately started shooting, but none managed to hit him. Then, Zero spread his arms out, and fell backwards off of the building.

" _ **Princess, shall we pursue?"**_ Guilford asked.

"Colonel, what do you think?" Cornelia asked.

"I'd recommend we not attempt a pursuit. If Zero was confident enough to show himself in front of our entire force, then he definitely has an escape route already prepared. Chasing him would simply be a waste of time." I explained. "In any case, I suspect this little 'lesson' will make him think twice before showing himself to use again."

"So self-preservation trumps all? Very well, send the order out; we're heading back." Cornelia announced.

* * *

 **AN:** And we're done! Hope everyone enjoyed this chapter. I definitely had fun writing it. The next chapter will be covering the Lake Kawaguchi incident, as well as the 2 days prior, and possibly a day or two after the incident. Anyhoo, do please leave a review to let me know what you thought, along with any ideas/suggestions. I'd love to include some reader ideas in this story.

 **[1]:** As promised, this is the officer I mentioned in Chapter 5, and whom I promised would be getting a name suggested by one of you guys. His name is Major Andrew Dixon, named after the main character from _Ripped Away_ , written by the fantastic **A.D. Fields**. He will continue to feature where I feel it will work, and his full name will be used on occasion. In terms of appearance, I like to picture him as being an older version of his _Ripped Away_ self, probably around 35 years old. **  
**

 **[2]:** I suspect you guys can all work out what this is hinting at, based on the pairing I've put up with the rating, etc. It took me ages to work out which second girl I wanted to choose, and Milly's always been one of my favourite characters, and I always felt she deserved some love in her life. And let's be honest, she's pretty damn hot.


	7. Chapter 7: The Black Knights

**AN:** I'M BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACK!

Hey everyone, sorry for the wait, but as I said, I'm back with another chapter, and this one's nice and big! A whopping 10,892 words, not counting my Author Notes, and 35-36 pages in length! Easily my largest chapter ever, so there's plenty for you guys to enjoy. Especially since you'll see the beginnings of Matthew's 2nd love interest, whom I've already revealed.

On a slightly less happy not, I'm going take this opportunity to respond to several Guest reviews (which I suspect are all by the same person), that are less than kind.

 **[Guest - chapter 2 . Mar 11]**

 **[a little to much fanboying on cornelias generosity ,the rest is ok.]**

 _Honestly, I've tried hard to work out what he's referring to as "fanboying", but I can't figure it out. Also, Cornelia in my story is going to act slightly differently, since I'm showing her developing feelings for my character, which at this point (Chapter 2) are slightly influencing her behaviour, but only slightly._

 **[Guest - chapter 5 . Mar 11]**

 **[he knew they would try to free suzaku but didnt prepare backup ... just watching...]**

 _First, Matthew only suspected someone would try and save Suzaku. In the anime, Villetta also points this out, so it doesn't make any difference. Also, at that point, Matthew was just there to observe, and had no real authority to do anything. Also, he didn't know exactly what might happen, so preparing backup likely wouldn't have helped at all._

[ **Guest - chapter 6 . Mar 11]**

 **[Nice chapter but why does he discuss secret operations with school children?! ... i really hope theres a secret plan and not that you give your character the idiot ball...]**

 _As I've explained to others, Cornelia was going to reveal the operation anyway, so Matthew talking about it simply helps that happen more quickly. Also, in the actual episode, Lelouch states that he already knew it was a trap, and yet he still went, so Matthew revealing that part to him wouldn't have changed his decision, since he was incredibly arrogant at that point. Finally, as far as Matthew's concerned, he's talking to loyal Britannians, and even if he hadn't said anything, the rumours would've spread regardless. Also, Matthew's only human, and humans occasionally say things they shouldn't._

So, if anyone has any idea who this/these reviewer/reviewers is/are, I'd love to know, especially if he/they have been doing it to others (hope that sentence wasn't too confusing).

Without further ado, I present to you…Chapter 7! Enjoy!

" _12345"_ = Thoughts.

" _ **678910"**_ = Radio, cell phones, TV etc.

* * *

 **30th March, 2017 a.t.b.**

 **11:07 am**

 **Tokyo Settlement, Area 11**

 **Viceroy's Palace of Area 11**

"Euphie, I really don't approve of you doing this. With the current situation, it's too dangerous for you to leave the Settlement." Cornelia protested, her stern voice doing little to mask her obvious concern for her sister.

"Cornelia, please don't worry, I'll be fine. After all, I'm only going there to observe, and I'm taking a bodyguard with me." Euphemia replied, in her always sweet voice, at which point the older sibling let out an exasperated sigh.

The two princesses, myself and Guilford were currently within the palace's expansive garage, standing next to a relatively nondescript car, along with a female plain clothes security officer, positioned behind Euphemia. The pink-haired princess had swapped her usual Sub-Viceroy outfit for a simple, short white dress, paired with a plain tan jacket with pink edging and highlights. A pair of pink-rimmed glasses completed the look, giving her the appearance of a normal student instead of a member of royalty. The reason for the disguise was that Euphemia had insisted on going to the annual Sakuradite Allocation Meeting, being held today at the Lake Kawaguchi Convention Centre Hotel.

As Sakuradite was an essential component in the manufacture of high-temperature superconductors, it had an effect on global security and the balance of power between nations that no resource in my world even came close to matching. The purpose of the meeting was to determine how Sakuradite would be distributed among all the nations of the world, Including Britannia, such that the balance of power would be maintained. Even the Britannians recognised that it was better to keep the EU and the Chinese Federation happy, than it would be to have them declare war due to Britannia hording Sakuradite for itself, as the two superpowers combined could very easily overwhelm Britannia if they were to ally with each other. I certainly couldn't fault Euphemia for wanting to keep an eye on proceedings; Area 11 alone supplied 70% of the world's Sakuradite, and with the current instability it was paramount that the meeting go smoothly.

"I understand that, but even so, I'd prefer if you took the Colonel along with you." Cornelia said, referring to me. "I did order him to remain with you at all times, after all."

"And I certainly don't lack faith in the Colonel's abilities. But I think a young man travelling with two women would seem a bit unusual." Euphemia added. Cornelia, realising her sister wasn't going to take no for an answer, gave a sigh of defeat.

"Fine, you can go. But stay safe." She replied.

"Of course I will. And thank you." Euphemia said.

"Viceroy, if I may?" I interjected.

"Go ahead, Colonel." Cornelia said. I nodded my thanks, then addressed Euphemia.  
"Princess, once you arrive on site, switch your phone to silent. In the event that something goes wrong or you're in danger, hold down '1' for a few seconds. That will both send an alert message to us, and activate your device's microphone, which should allow us to listen in." I instructed. "Major Dixon will be monitoring the line, and will contact us if he receives your message."

"I understand. Thank you Colonel, I feel safer already." She replied, giving me a beaming smile.

"Just doing my job, your Highness. Have a safe trip." I replied. Euphemia nodded, then she and her guard climbed into their car and drove off. Looking over, I could see Cornelia's eyes following them vehicle the entire time, until it disappeared from view. It was painfully obvious to Guilford and I that she was still worried, and I'd have been lying if I said I wasn't worried as well.

"I'm sure she'll be just fine Princess." Guilford offered, as the three of us exited the garage, boarding the lift back up into the main palace building.

"I hope you're right. Things have been a little too quiet since the Saitama Ghetto. I expected that Zero would lay low for a while, but the fact that none of the other terrorist groups have made any sort of move is unusual."

"Yes, I can't disagree with you on that. But right now the best we can do is watch and wait." Guilford replied.

"You're right. For the moment, we'll keep going as normal." Cornelia agreed. "Matthew, I'd like for you to take over Euphemia's duties while she's out. While you don't technically have the authority to sign or approve anything, you can at least sort documents based on priority, and feel free to add any recommendations you feel might be beneficial."

"I understand, your Highness. I'll get onto that right away." I replied, just as the lift doors opened. We exited the lift, with Cornelia and Guilford making their way back to her office, while I headed over to Euphemia's own office, which was located on the same floor, but in the opposite direction. This had been done to improve security, by making it increasingly difficult for anyone to target both the Viceroy and Sub-Viceroy in a single attack.

As I entered the rather cosy office, I felt glad that Clovis'…questionable styling tastes had been more focused on the rest of the palace. The room itself was quite modest; a suitably stylish yet functional desk, with two couches positioned in front of the desk so that they faced each other. The wall to my right was taken up by a floor-to-ceiling window, giving quite a nice view to the outside world. As with all the windows in the palace, it somehow kept the light level in the room low enough that one could view a screen with no difficulty. Sitting down behind the desk, in what had to be the most comfortable chair I've ever sat in (only beaten by the one in Cornelia's office), I was confronted by two reasonably sized stacks of files, each containing some document for me to look over.

" _Well, no point just sitting here. Might as well get started."_ I thought. I removed my jacket, letting it drape over the back of the chair, as well as my gloves, which I sat on the desk off to my left. I'd learned quickly that stuffing them in my pockets wasn't the most comfortable thing to do, and it also made putting them back on tricky as well. Having made myself comfy, I reached over and plucked the first file off of its pile and set to work.

* * *

 **2:52 pm**

I let out a small sigh of relief, leaning back in my seat as I relaxed. It had taken a few hours, but I'd managed to read and sort each and every file, thirty-two in total. Thankfully, most of the documents had been either short or relatively straightforward to read through, so sorting them out based on their importance or urgency hadn't been to arduous. Sadly, my relaxation was suddenly interrupted by my phone, which had begun buzzing and ringing loudly in my pocket. Sighing in frustration, I promptly answered the call, not bothering to check the caller ID to see who it was.

"This is Lieutenant Colonel Gavin, what is it?" I asked, making an effort not to let my frustration make itself apparent.

" _ **Colonel, it's Major Dixon!"**_ Dixon's slightly panicked voice replied.

"Dixon? What's happening?" I asked, though I already had a horrible feeling that I knew what he was about to say.

" _ **Sir, I just received the alert message from Princess Euphemia's cell phone!"**_ he replied.

"Understood Dixon, good work. Have you been able to learn anything about exactly what's happened?"

" _ **Yes my Lord. I was just listening to the feed we're receiving from the Princess' phone now. I can't make out much, but I definitely heard the phrase 'Japan Liberation Front'."**_ Dixon explained.

" _That's about the worst possible thing that could've happened!"_ I thought. "Dixon, can you tell if they've identified Princess Euphemia?"

" _ **From what I've heard, it sounds as though the JLF is unaware of her presence. She wasn't registered as a hotel guest, so it's safe to assume she's safe for now."**_

"Well done Dixon. I need to get this to Viceroy Cornelia ASAP, so I'll have to hang up now. Keep listening in, and let us know if you learn anything else that might help." I ordered, rising to my feet, slipping my jacket on one arm at a time, as Dixon filled me in. The JLF had apparently taken Euphemia, as well as a number of hotel guests, employees and people from the meeting hostage.

" _ **Yes my Lord."**_ Dixon replied, before I ended the call. I picked up my gloves and bolted out of the office, pulling my gloves back on and doing up my jacket as I ran. As soon as I reached Cornelia's office, I burst through the doors. Guilford and Cornelia both looked up sharply from what they were doing, the princess clearly not happy with my unannounced arrival.

"Colonel! What's the meaning of this?!" she demanded. I held up a hand, giving myself a few seconds to catch my breath.

"Princess, I just received word from Major Dixon. He just received Princess Euphemia's alert message." I explained.

"What?!" she exclaimed, jumping to her feet.

"We've also learned that the Japan Liberation Front is responsible. They've taken control of the hotel, and have taken at least three dozen people hostage, including the Princess." I explained.

"Damn them! Have they discovered Euphemia's identity?" Cornelia asked.

"Thankfully, it appears she's still just another Britannian as far as they're concerned. So she should be safe for now." I replied.

"In any case, we have to move…now!" Cornelia roared, pulling on her cape. "Guilford, contact Darlton and get our forces mobilised. I want to be at Lake Kawaguchi within the hour!" The Knight immediately snapped to attention.

"At once, your Highness!" he replied.

"Both of you, follow me!" Cornelia ordered, marching her way past both of us. Guilford and I immediately fell into step behind her, with Guilford busy on his phone, relaying Cornelia's orders to Darlton.

* * *

 **4:01 pm**

 **Lake Kawaguchi Shoreline, Area 11**

 **G-1 Base**

Less than an hour and a half later, the Britannian Army had finished mobilising, and we were now on the scene; the G-1 was positioned a short distance back from the start of one of the three bridges that connected the hotel to Lake Kawaguchi's shoreline. At present, two of the bridges had been raised, leaving the main bridge in front of us as the only one connecting to the tall, obelisk-like structure. The hotel itself was located towards the lake's south-eastern end, where the otherwise lush, green landscape gave way to a well-developed urban area.

From the reports given to us by the intelligence divisions, the hotel had been assaulted by approximately five dozen members of the Japan Liberation Front, a group comprised entirely of soldiers from the now-defunct Japanese Army. The entire takeover had taken less than an hour, by the end of which the JLF had control of the entire building, and had taken upwards of four dozen Britannians hostage, holding them inside a storage room on one of the hotel's uppermost floors. As we'd reviewed a video released by the JLF, I'd felt my blood run cold when the footage revealed Shirley, Nina, and worst of all Milly, among the hostages **[1]**. So now the lives of four people I knew were in jeopardy. If the Japanese of this world were anything like those in my world, they were capable of doing terrible things when they were desperate. So far, the Japanese had demanded the release of a number of important political prisoners in exchange for the release of the hostages. Worse, our two attempts to infiltrate the hotel so far, the first by air, the second by the lake itself, had both failed miserably. Not only were the terrorists desperate, they were also well entrenched. So presently, we found ourselves in an uneasy but unavoidable standoff.

"Fucking cowards. Doesn't matter what your situation is, you NEVER take innocent civilians hostage." I growled, trying to keep my anger under control. While I could understand their motivations, the JLF's actions were still inexcusable.

"You're not wrong, Colonel." Darlton replied. I nodded, then turned back to the screen in front of me. At present, I was trying to find another way into the hotel. Both of our approaches up until then had had a common problem; they both required our forces to expose themselves at some stage during the operation, thus alerting the enemy to their presence before they'd managed to get in. We needed a route that would keep our forces out of view until they reached the hotel itself. Otherwise, even if we managed to get in, the hostages, including Euphemia, would all be dead by the time we got to them.

Finally, after sifting through what seemed like hundreds of files, I found the answer; the main utilities tunnel. The tunnel ran from the shore out underneath the surface of the lake, leading to the hotel's main foundation block. Designed primarily to handle large-scale supply delivery, the tunnel was sufficiently tall and wide to accommodate several Knightmares in close formation. But how to rescue the hostages after that? Somehow, we had to find a way to distract the JLF soldiers enough for us to reach the floor the hostages were on before they could be killed.

" _Think, Matthew. What's a sure-fire way to make people panic?"_ I thought. Then it hit me; bring the entire building down!

If we were to destroy the main foundation block, the hotel would then immediately start to sink into the lake. However, their air trapped inside the building itself would provide buoyancy, thus slowing the rate at which the building would sink. Running some rough calculations, I found that the room containing the hostages would likely stay above water for around eight minutes, more than enough time to get everyone out before the entire building sank. The only uncertainty was the JLF. Given how solid their defences had been so far, I doubted that they were unaware of the tunnel. The question was what kind of defences they'd set up down there?

" _It doesn't matter; the tunnel's our only way in."_

"Does anyone here have any suggestions? We can't just sit around and wait for these terrorists to make their demands." Cornelia asked. The room around me was silent, apart from the faint murmuring of a few officers. Finally one spoke up, who I recognised by his voice as Colonel Raines.

"Your Highness, myself and the other officers believe that a direct, frontal assault would be the best way to resolve the situation quickly." The man announced. I couldn't believe what I was hearing! How could the man be so stupid?!

"Are you completely insane?!" I yelled, whirling around face Raines. I realised that everyone in the room was now staring straight at me, but I was too wrapped up in my anger at the man in front of me to really care.

"You impudent little-!" Raines began, before I cut him off.

"Save it! Are you seriously suggesting that we launch a frontal assault?! Against an enemy that has entrenched themselves on the upper floor of a high-rise building?! They'd see us coming before we even set off! Not to mention, even if we did make it inside, the hostages would all be dead by the time we got there! Hostages, need I remind you, that include Princess Euphemia li Britannia!" I roared, using my arms to punctuate my sentences. "So unless you're prepared to gamble with your own life as well as hers, then kindly shut the fu-!" **[2]**

"Lieutenant Colonel! Control yourself!" Guilford cut in, his voice cutting through my tirade and allowing me to calm down a bit. Taking a few deep breaths to compose myself, I turned to face Cornelia, all eyes still on me.

"I apologise, your Highness." I said. "But while my outburst may have been unnecessary, I stand by what I said." The princess nodded her head in reply.

"See that you control yourself better in the future, Lieutenant Colonel." Cornelia replied, her tone surprisingly neutral, before she addressed the now stunned Raines. "Colonel Raines, while not the exact words I would have used, I share the Lieutenant Colonel's sentiments; your 'plan', for lack of a better word, is utterly pitiful. I will NOT authorise any further actions if it means putting the hostages in danger."

"Yes…your Highness." The admonished man replied.

"Now then Lieutenant Colonel, am I correct in assuming that you have a better plan?"

"Yes, your Highness." I replied, pressing a button which brought up the schematics I'd been studying earlier. "The main utilities tunnel running directly underneath the Convention Centre Hotel. Basically, we would enter in through this route, destroy the foundation block, and submerge the hotel. The area with the hostages should hold out for roughly 8 minutes. "

"A well-conceived plan." Cornelia responded. "Continue."

"Of course, your Highness. Now then, given that the tunnel was also designed to facilitate large-scale supply delivery, it possesses ample room the use of Knightmare Frames. My current plan is for us to send three Sutherlands into the tunnel from behind the G-1's position. Once inside, our Knightmares will make their way through the tunnel, and take out the foundation block once they arrive on site. The Knightmares will then leave the area, and our assault teams will move in." I explained. "The enemy forces will obviously be thrown into disarray, which should enable our assault teams to reach the hostages and evacuate them unharmed."

"As I said before, an excellent plan. Well done, Lieutenant Colonel." Cornelia commented.

"However, your Highness, there is one slight problem." I replied.

"And that would be…?"

"Unfortunately, as of this moment we have no intelligence regarding any potential defences that the enemy may have established inside the tunnel. Given how solid their defences have been so far, it would be foolish to assume that the tunnel is undefended. Furthermore, as the tunnel is the only realistic approach that our Knightmares can use, it's likely that the enemy will have established their strongest defences there."

"Be that as it may, like you said this is our only remaining option. Carry it out." Cornelia ordered.

"Yes, your Highness." I replied. "Major Dixon, have the Engineering teams open up the nearest tunnel access behind our position. And have them prepare the Knightmare Hoists as well."

"Yes, my Lord." Dixon replied, before leaving the bridge to carry out my instructions. Fifteen minutes later, the Britannian engineers had opened up a large tunnel access hole just behind the G-1 Base, and had also set up a hoisting gantry above the hole, large enough to support the weight of a single Knightmare Frame. Three Sutherlands lined up in front of the hole, and were then in turn lowered down into the tunnel itself one at a time.

" _ **This is Sutherland Team, reporting in."**_ the pilot of the lead Sutherland radioed in. _**"We're ready and standing by."**_

"Sutherland Team, this is Lieutenant Colonel Gavin." I replied, as the view on the map table at the front of the bridge changed to display a tactical view of the tunnel itself, with three Knightmare icons positioned at our end of the tunnel. "I assume you understand your mission?"

" _ **Yes my Lord, we're to destroy the hotel's foundation block, then pull out immediately."**_

"Exactly. Be advised, the strength of the enemy's defences within the tunnel is unknown. Proceed with caution." I explained.

" _ **Understood, sir."**_

"Very well, commence operation." I ordered.

" _ **Yes, my Lord!"**_ All three pilots responded, as their Knightmares set off, making their way down the tunnel at a reasonable pace in close formation.

" _Let's just hope they can break through."_ I thought. The three Sutherlands continued on, encountering no resistance as they moved forward. But this lack of resistance only made me more concerned, as it meant they were likely closing in on some sort of defence. Just then, the voice of the lead Sutherland pilot came through, clearly addressing his fellow pilots.

" _ **I think these guys have Knightmare Rifles. Spread out, and break their ranks."**_ He said. Seconds later, all three Knightmares vanished from the screen within in the space of a single second, 'Lost' markers indicating they'd been destroyed.

"A-All three units have been wiped out!" I announced, shocked that all of them had been taken out so quickly.

"Wiped out?!" Darlton exclaimed.

"It looks as though they've modified a Glasgow into a linear cannon!" one of the officers explained, looking at the data we'd received from the Sutherlands just before we'd lost their signals.

" _Dammit! I just sent three good men to their deaths! What kind of officer does that?!"_ I thought. Deep down I knew there was no way I could've foreseen this, but it didn't make me feel any better.

"Then there's no way we can break through!" Another officer exclaimed.

"What do we do now?! If we release the political prisoners as they demand-!"

"We can't show weakness to terrorists!" Cornelia responded, before Guilford bent down and whispered something to her. "Yes, I know." She replied. Clearly, Guildford had brought up Euphemia's situation.

"Thus far, it appears that none of them have discovered that fact." Darlton explained. "If they learn Princess Euphemia is among the hostages, they'll undoubtedly use her as a bargaining chip. She went there just to observe, therefore she isn't registered along with the other guests."

"Yes, but the longer this goes on, the more likely it is that she'll be discovered. We can't simply wait around and do nothing." Cornelia countered. "Lieutenant Colonel!"

"Yes, your Highness?" I replied.

"I'd like for you to assume command of the Special Corps for the remainder of this mission. Do you have any objections?" She asked.

"None at all, your Highness." I replied, saluting the princess before exiting the bridge and making my way out of the G-1. Working my way around the various vehicles and Knightmares dotted around the place, I soon arrived at the Special Corps' location. Their setup consisted solely of the Lancelot's trailer vehicle, with Lloyd, Cécile and Suzaku stood (or sat in Lloyd's case) on the grassed area sloping down towards the water's edge.

"Afternoon." I greeted, causing the three of them to look over my way.

"Oh, good afternoon Matthew." Cécile replied, flashing another of her warm smiles. Suzaku simply waved lightly, while Lloyd seemed indifferent. "What brings you over here?"

"Princess Cornelia instructed me to take command of the Special Corps for the rest of this operation. And given the disaster we just had, we may need Suzaku's help at some point." I replied.

"What happened?" Suzaku asked.

"I had an idea to send Knightmares in through the utilities tunnel to destroy the foundation, sink the hotel, and get the hostages out in the confusion. But then it turned out that the JLF had positioned a linear cannon, modified from four Glasgows, inside the tunnel. Took out three Sutherlands in one shot." I explained. "Three good men died because of me"

"Don't be so hard on yourself, Matthew." Cécile replied. "It wasn't your fault. You couldn't have known what would happen."

"Yeah, I guess you're right." I replied, now feeling a lot better. Those pilots had known what they were attempting was dangerous, and thanks to their bravery, we now knew what we were dealing with.

"A linear cannon, hmm? That's rather impressive." Lloyd replied, rising to his feet. "Any idea what kind of ammunition they used?"

"Given what I saw, I'd say they're firing canister shot." I replied.

"Canister shot?" Suzaku wondered. "What's that?"

"It's basically a hollow artillery shell, filled with oversized ball bearings. Once the shell exits the barrel, the canister separates and releases the bearings, essentially like a big shotgun. In a confined space like a tunnel, it's nearly impossible to avoid." I explained.

"So what's our next move?" Suzaku asked.

"For now, we sit tight and wait." I replied. "At this point there's not much else we _can_ do."

* * *

 **6:23 pm**

 **Lake Kawaguchi Shoreline, Area 11**

 **Advanced Special Envoy Engineering Corps (ASEEC) Trailer**

A couple of hours later, night had fallen on the Lake Kawaguchi area, but the situation seemed no closer to being resolved. Since the failure of my plan to break in through the underground tunnel, both the Britannians and the JLF had remained locked in a stalemate. Presently, the Special Corps technicians were running diagnostics on the Lancelot, as I'd ordered the unit to be kept on standby in case it was needed. Cécile was helping Suzaku run checks from the unit's cockpit, while Lloyd and I stood on a gantry behind them. I'd put on my earpiece communicator, so I could monitor Britannian radio chatter and keep up to date with any developments.

" _ **Attention all sniper teams. Situation is holding. All team commanders confirm…"**_

"I don't get why the JLF hasn't made a move yet. As much as I hate to admit it, they're basically in control right now." I said.

"You're right about that." Lloyd replied, leaning back against the railing behind him. As he did, I glanced over at the Lancelot, an idea forming in my head.

"The first Seventh Generation Knightmare Frame, the Lancelot's design was focused on high performance, particularly in the areas of speed and agility. In addition, it possessed a hard-light shielding system known as the Blaze Luminous, projected by a pair of forearm-mounted generators. The shielding could withstand most, if not all conventional armaments, according to what Lloyd had told me. That, combined with what I knew about Suzaku's piloting skills, maybe we could-.

" _ **Urgent report from Scout Team 7! Situation changing!"**_ As soon as I heard this, I ran over to the Lancelot, looking over Suzaku and Cécile's shoulders at the cockpit's front monitor. On it, I could see four green-garbed JLF soldiers and one of the hostages on the hotel roof, right at the edge.

" _Don't even think about doing it!"_ I thought, knowing exactly what they were planning to do.

"That's-!" Suzaku started.

"What are they going to do to him?!" Cécile gasped.

"Oh no." Suzaku gasped. "Don't do it!" Seconds later, one of the soldiers kicked the hostage in the back, sending the poor man plummeting to his death on the ground far below. Mercifully, we couldn't see the impact from our vantage point.

"NOOOOOOO!"Suzaku cried out, while I resorted to slamming my fist down on the outside of the cockpit, ignoring the flash of pain it caused me.

"Fucking cowards! THIS is their idea of a warning?!" I exclaimed. As we continued watching, out of the corner of my eye I noticed the units around the bridge moving into position, surrounding something. The radio chatter indicated that it was Zero, standing atop a stolen news van. _"What's he doing here?"_

After a tense few minute or two, the bridge units let Zero pass through. The van traveled across the bridge, the JLF opening the gate to allow the vehicle to enter the hotel grounds.

" _Cornelia must be using Zero to buy time. In that case…"_ I thought. "Lloyd, I've got a question. And give me your honest opinion."

"Really? Whatever could that be?" Lloyd replied, as laid-back as he usually was.

"Can the Lancelot's Blaze Luminous stand up to that cannon's firepower?" I asked.

"Are you doubting my work?" Lloyd countered, a teasing smirk spreading across his face.

"Can it? I asked again.

"But of course." Lloyd replied.

"That's all I need to hear." I said, bringing a hand up to my earpiece. "Princess Cornelia, this is Lieutenant Colonel Gavin."

" _ **Yes, what is it?"**_ she replied.

"Your Highness, I recommend we attempt to break through the tunnel again."

" _ **And sacrifice the lives of even more of my men? Out of the question."**_

"Not exactly. This time, I propose we send the Lancelot."

" _ **Are you serious? I can't be seen trusting this operation to an Eleven, whatever his abilities may be!"**_

"I understand your situation, your Highness. But it's the only option we have left. Professor Asplund assures me that the Lancelot is up to the task. If it goes wrong, then I'll gladly take the blame." I replied. A few seconds of silence followed, before Cornelia's answer came.

" _ **Very well. Do it."**_

"At once, your Highness." I replied, closing the line. "Lloyd, get the Lancelot ready to move out. Princess Cornelia just gave the green light for another shot at the tunnel."

"Wonderful! Thank you for that lovely order!" Lloyd exclaimed, looking like he was about to burst with excitement.

"Wait a minute! You mean-!" Cécile protested.

"Cécile!" I exclaimed, silencing her protests. "Suzaku, I for one consider the Japanese to be an honourable people, especially their soldiers. However, the Japan Liberation Front has shown tonight that they have absolutely no regard for innocent lives. They have no honour at all. I want you to show them, show everyone how a true soldier of Japan fights."

"Yes, my Lord." Suzaku replied.

"Good answer." I replied, smiling. "Get suited up, you'll be going in the second we're ready."

* * *

 **6:33 pm**

 **Lake Kawaguchi Shoreline, Area 11**

 **Main Utilities Tunnel Access**

Minutes later, the Lancelot was all set and ready to go. The Special Corps had quickly rushed the machine over to the tunnel access hole, and it was now suspended, ready to be lowered in. Lloyd and Cécile were sat in front of a console, while I stood behind them, supervising the operation. My little speech earlier seemed to have had the intended effect; Suzaku was focused and ready to go. All I could do was hope that he would make it through the operation in one piece.

"Matthew, are you sure about this?" Cécile asked.

"Cécile, I don't like having to send Suzaku in any more than you, believe me. But it's the only option we have left. Honestly, I'd go if I could, but Suzaku's the only one who can pull this off." I replied. "Just focus on your job, and let Suzaku do his."

"Right, understood." She replied. At the same time, I saw the various lights flickering on the Lancelot's head, as Suzaku started the unit up.

"All right, here we go." I announced. "Everyone, stand clear. Cécile, go ahead."

"Right." Cécile replied, before addressing Suzaku through her headset. "Warrant Officer Kururugi, here is a guideline for your mission. According to prime search, the hostages are located on the hotel's upper floor, and believed to be locked inside a food storage room. Advanced Prototype Weapon Z-01 Lancelot will use the utilities tunnel to move under the hotel. Once on site, you will destroy the foundation block and submerge the building. The area with the hostages should hold out for eight minutes. Hostage rescue and mop-up of the terrorists will be handled by other units."

"You will be using the VARIS to destroy the foundation." Cécile continued, referring to the blue rifle attached to the Lancelot's rear waist. "Set the impact rail to Anti-Material Level Three."

"The only variable in this is that pesky linear cannon waiting for you in the tunnel. Space is tight in there; the Lancelot will only have a 47.8% evasion rate." Lloyd added.

"Are we really going through with this?" Cécile asked.

"Yep. Make sure you both pull out of there before it's too late. Lancelot might be wrecked, that'll be unacceptable." Lloyd continued.

" _ **Before it's too late?"**_ Suzaku exclaimed. _ **"Understood, sir."**_

"Suzaku, are you ready?" I asked.

" _ **Yes, my Lord."**_ He replied. The determination in his voice was obvious, even over the radio. A dull thud could be heard, as the Lancelot reached the tunnel floor. The unit's hip-mounted Slash Harkens disconnected from the gantry, returning back to their retracted positions.

"Excellent. Your friends are counting on you, and I know you can do this." I assured him. "Good luck."

"Twelve minutes to operation start. Commencing countdown." Cécile announced.

* * *

 **12 minutes later…**

" _ **ME Boost!"**_ Suzaku announced.

"Lancelot, now launching!" Cécile followed. An instant later, the Lancelot took off with an ear-splitting screech from its Landspinners. Watching the screen, I was stunned by the white Knightmare's performance; it was easily twice as fast as the Sutherlands that had tried before, already having made it a good way down the tunnel. Seconds later, the linear cannon fired its first salvo, letting loose two shells in rapid succession. Amazingly, Suzaku was able to dodge both volleys without getting a scratch. A few moments later, a massive blast of compressed air erupted up out of the tunnel access, forcing all of us to take cover from the resulting shower of debris.

"I warned you about this, Lloyd!" Cécile shouted, covering her head.

"You could've warned me, too!" I yelled back. _"But look at Suzaku go! He just might pull this off!"_

Suzaku continued to press forward, dodging a further three salvos as he rapidly closed the distance. But with that closure, each salvo became progressively more dangerous and difficult to evade. By the fifth one, Suzaku was now being forced to use the Blaze Luminous, as he no longer had time to avoid the incoming fire. At the same time, his data readouts indicated that the linear cannon unit had just deployed four secondary guns as well.

" _ **Miss Cécile, it's time for me to use the VARIS!"**_ Suzaku announced.

"No, you could get killed!" Cécile protested.

" _ **There's no room for me to evade! I'll risk getting blasted to take the first shot!"**_ Suzaku replied,readying the VARIS rifle. The weapon extended to its full length, as it prepared to fire. Simultaneously, the linear cannon unit began recharging, to the point where the barrel was now emitting huge sparks.

"Suzaku, the linear cannon's powering up again. And this time you won't be able to block it! Shoot now!" I ordered. Without even pausing to respond, Suzaku fired his shot, just as the linear cannon fired as well. The VARIS' shot destroyed the linear cannon's shell, before going right down the unit's barrel. An instant later, the cannon exploded into a massive ball of fire, the explosion tearing through the tunnel roof, sending the Lancelot itself high into the air above the main bridge. Suzaku quickly reloaded and fired three quick shots, which immediately demolished the hotel's foundation block, causing the entire building to begin sinking, tilting over at a slight angle in the process.

"He did it!" I exclaimed, before activating my earpiece. "Rescue teams, move in now!" But seconds later, all of us watched in horror as one of the upper floors exploded, flames and smoke erupting out of the windows. I swore I could hear Cornelia crying out Euphemia's name even from back here.

"Oh no!" Cécile exclaimed.

"Princess Euphemia!" I shouted, before leaping down off the platform, and running as fast as I could past the G-1.

" _ **Lieutenant Colonel?!"**_ I heard Cécile exclaim.

"I can't see anything from back here! Just keep monitoring Suzaku!" I responded.

" _ **Y-Yes, sir!"**_ she replied. I continued running, moving past the Sutherlands and vehicles gathered around the bridge's end. Across the water, I could see the hotel continuing to collapse into a pile of rubble, with nothing indicating that anyone had survived.

" _Dammit, fuck!"_ I screamed internally. I'd failed again! And this time, the dead now included people I actually knew, making me feel sick to my stomach. However, seconds later a large boat emerged from the smoke, surrounded by a few dozen small orange life rafts. Straining my eyes, I could just make out Zero standing on the vessel's prow, with a small group of people stood behind him, currently obscured by shadows.

 **"My dear Britannians, have no fear. All of the hostages from the hotel are safe and sound. I, Zero, return them to you unharmed."** The masked man announced, his voice amplified enough that I could hear it from where I was.

" _They're alive, thank God!"_ I thought with relief, feeling like a huge weight had been lifted from my shoulders. As I continued to watch, a series of lights lit up, revealing the figures standing behind Zero. They were a mix of men and women, all wearing matching black uniforms. _"Interesting."_

 **"People! Fear us, or rally behind us as you see fit. We are the Black Knights. We of the Black Knights stand with those who have no weapons to wield; regardless of whether they be Elevens or Britannians."** Zero announced.

" _Really? Well, his actions tonight certainly seem to back that up. But how serious is he about that?"_ I wondered. Zero's proclamation seemed too good to be true, after all, he'd already murdered one Britannian royal, and attempted to kill a second.

" **The Japan Liberation Front cowardly took innocent Britannian civilians hostage, and then mercilessly executed them. It was a wanton and meaningless act, therefore they have been punished."** Zero continued. **"Just as former Viceroy Clovis was punished for ordering the slaughter of countless unarmed Elevens, we could not stand by and allow such cruelty to be carried out, and so we made him pay for his actions. I will not repudiate battle on a fair and level field, but neither will I tolerate a one-sided massacre of the weak by the strong. The only ones who should kill…are those who are prepared to be killed!"**

" _Well, I certainly can't argue with that. After all, do unto others as you would have them do to you. Sometimes, you have to be prepared to sacrifice your life to achieve what you want."_

" **Wherever oppressors have abuse their power by attacking those who are powerless, we shall appear again. No matter how mighty, or formidable our foe may be! Those of you with power, fear us!"** Zero proclaimed, flinging out his left arm, followed by his right arm. **"Those of you without it, rally behind us! We, the Black Knights, shall be the ones who stand in judgment of this world."**

" _An impressive speech Zero, but just how much of it is true? I guess we'll have to wait and see."_ I thought. As the Black Knights' boat left the area, I made my way down to the water, where some of the rafts were beginning to arrive near the shore. Some of the Britannian soldiers were already assisting some of the more elderly or shell-shocked hostages onto dry land. Scanning around I spotted two rafts; one containing Euphemia and her bodyguard, the other containing the girls from Ashford. I quickly made my way down, wading out into the slightly frigid water, ignoring the decidedly uncomfortable feeling of my clothes soaking up the water, reaching the two rafts before the water even reached my waist. "Princess Euphemia, are you all right your Highness?"

"It's good to see you again, Lieutenant Colonel." Euphemia replied, smiling in spite of what she'd just gone through. "And yes, I'm fine."

"That's good to hear. The Viceroy would probably have my head if you'd gotten hurt." I replied, as I pulled the two rafts to shore. Wading back onto dry land, I held out my hand to Euphemia, helping her out of the raft. Momentarily leaving the young princess to her bodyguard's care, I made my way over to the Ashford girls, who were starting to disembark as well.

"Lieutenant Colonel, you're here?" Shirley asked, clearly surprised by my presence.

"Yes, thankfully. Are the three of you injured?"

"No, we're okay." Milly replied, reaching out to me with both arms. For some reason, she was still sat inside the raft, not attempting to get out yet. Since she was clearly being lazy, I decided to have a little fun. Before the buxom blonde could protest, I reached down and picked her up bridal style, eliciting a yelp from the surprised girl, before setting her down on her feet next to her friends. I had to suppress a chuckle at Milly's face, which was blushing so much I imagined steam rising from her head. For some reason, I really enjoyed making the usually cool, collected Milly get all flustered. It may have had something to do with the fact that it only seemed to make her even more attractive.

"There we go, safe and sound. Now, if you ladies will excuse me, I have to get Princess Euphemia back before Viceroy Cornelia gets too worried." I said, before turning away and beginning my search for the pink-haired girl who seemed to have wandered off…again. As I did, could faintly hear Shirley teasing Milly, while Nina seemed content to leave the taller girls to it.

After a little searching, I managed to locate Euphemia again. It wasn't too hard, since she was currently surrounded by a ring of soldiers, who were struggling to hold back a small mob of reporters and cameramen, all apparently desperate to get closer to the princess. As I approached, the clamour only got louder and louder.

"May I have your attention, please?!" I shouted, in an attempt to get the press' attention. Thankfully it seemed to work, as every single one of them turned their attention to me, including the cameramen, so I knew I had to make sure not to make a fool of myself. "While I can understand that all of you are simply doing your job, Her Highness has just been through quite an ordeal, and I must insist that she be allowed to rest and recover for now. Anyone who wishes to ask Princess Euphemia about this incident is welcome to put in a request to Her Highness at a later date."

This seemed to have the desired effect, as the various journalists backed off, a number of them dispersing, presumably to go and interview the other hostages. Ignoring the ones that remained, I made my way through the soldiers, who moved to let me through, over to Euphemia.

"Thank you for that, Lieutenant Colonel." Euphemia said, displaying her usual smile again.

"Not a problem, your Highness. Now then, we really should get you back to your sister, before she comes looking for you herself." I replied. Euphemia nodded, following behind me as I lead the way, the soldiers positioning themselves around us to hold back anymore overzealous press. Happily, we met with very little trouble, soon arriving back up at the area in front of the bridge.

"Make way! Move aside!" One of the soldiers repeated, as more and more people started crowding our little group. Eventually, we managed to reach Cornelia, who was stood with Guilford and Darlton over by their Gloucesters. The moment she spotted us, the elder princess rushed over, pulling her sister into a tight hug.

"Euphemia! Thank heaven you're safe!" she exclaimed, not bothering to hide her joy at seeing her beloved sister alive and well. I couldn't help but smile, as Euphemia hugged her sister back. While the two of them had their little moment, Guilford approached me, a slight smile on his face.

"Well Lieutenant Colonel, looks like your plan worked out, even if the hostage rescue part never happened." He said.

"Thanks, Lord Guilford." I replied. "I just wish it had worked the first time."

"I know, and I also know you never intended for that to happen. But regardless, things like that do happen. All you can do is be the best commander you can." Guilford replied, resting a hand on my shoulder. "In any event, the Princess and the hostages are safe, and that's what matters."

"Yeah, but now we've Zero's new group to deal with." I mused. "They helped us this once, but we can't expect them to keep doing that."

"I agree, but for now we all need to let ourselves relax a little. Stressing out over it won't get us anywhere." The knight added.

"Guilford! Lieutenant Colonel!" Cornelia called back, interrupting our conversation. Looking over, I noticed she'd wrapped her cape around Euphemia, in an effort to help her sister keep warm. I myself was starting to feel the cold as well, my trousers still soaked from wading about in the lake earlier. "Come, we're heading back."

"Yes, your Highness!" we both replied, falling into step behind her, along with Darlton, as we made our way back to the G-1.

* * *

 **31st March, 2017 a.t.b.**

 **9:46 am**

 **Tokyo Settlement, Area 11**

 **Viceroy's Palace of Area 11**

The next morning, things had already calmed down quite a bit since the events of the previous night. Although the media was abuzz with the revelation of Zero's Black Knights, most of the talk was focused on how great it was that all the hostages bar one had been rescued safely. For her part, Euphemia seemed relatively unshaken by the whole thing. She was already back to her usual bubbly self, though I could faintly tell she was still a little shaken by the experience. Cornelia, by contrast, seemed to be hovering over her sister even more than she already did, having moved Euphemia's office to be right next to her own. As far as I knew, the only thing she hadn't done was make Euphemia sleep in the same bed as her…yet.

As for me, my day hadn't exactly had the best start possible. Although Cornelia had informed me that I was getting the day off, there was still the issue of informing the families of the three Sutherland pilots who'd died inside the utilities tunnel of their sons' fates. It was something I'd never done before, and almost immediately I was thanking my lucky stars that I hadn't; it turned out to be a pretty sobering experience, writing each of the three letters. However, I still made a concerted effort to lessen the families' sadness, by informing them of the important part their sons had played in rescuing the hostages, even if Zero had been the one to actually rescue them. This way, the families could at least be proud that their sons died attempting to save the lives of others, including that of Princess Euphemia. I also planned to see the bodies off later today. After I'd finished writing the letters themselves, all that was left was to hand them over to Cornelia, who would in turn write her own letter, before sending all of the letters off. And that was the reason I now found myself outside her office.

"Come in." Cornelia's voice called out, after I knocked on the door.

"Viceroy, I have the condolence letters for the families of the Sutherland pilots here." I said, stepping into the office and handing the letters over to Cornelia, who took them from me.

"Ah yes, thank you. I've already written my letter, so I'll see that these get sent out as soon as possible." She replied, putting the letters away in one of her desk drawers for the time being. "I can't imagine that was easy for you."

"No, it wasn't, your Highness." I replied. "I certainly don't envy anyone who has to do it on a regular basis. But like Guilford said, they knew the risks, and performed their duties. Their families should be proud that they gave their lives trying to save others."

"Indeed. Thanks to them, we avoid having to risk a frontal assault, which would almost certainly have ended in failure." Cornelia added. "But enough of that, let's leave the depressing subjects alone, shall we? Please, sit down. You look like you could use it."

"Thank you, Cornelia." I replied, before realising what I'd just done. "Sorry, I mean, your Highness."

"It's fine." Cornelia replied, waving off my apology as I sat down on one of the two couches in front of her desk. "You and I are the only ones here, after all. We might as well talk as friends."

"Fair enough." I replied, relaxing back into the _very_ comfy couch. Cornelia soon moved to sit opposite me, the picture frame from her desk in one hand.

"That reminds me, you've never seen any of the other members of my family, have you?" she asked. When I shook my head 'no', she handed the frame over to me. Looking at the photo inside, I was greeted by the happy faces of five people; a kind-looking woman with long, soft-looking black hair, probably in her early thirties with soft violet eyes, sat outside with four children. One was a young boy, who looked much like the woman, with short black hair and bright violet eyes. The other three children were all girls; one with long, curly, sandy brown hair, one slightly older girl with short pink hair, and another older girl with short violet hair. I couldn't help grinning as I recognised the last two.

"Care to share what's so funny?" Cornelia teased.

"Just that I'm having a very hard time imagining you as a little girl, Cornelia. Euphemia's also even more adorable than I would've expected, which I wouldn't have thought was even possible." I replied. "I assume the woman is the late Empress Marianne?"

"Yes, it is. The other two children are Lelouch and Nunnally." Cornelia replied, her voice growing sad. "I take it Euphemia has already explained what happened to them?"

"She did. No one deserves to lose a mother like that. Especially not right in front of them." I replied, my voice mirroring Cornelia's. "She also mentioned that you really looked up to Marianne."

"I admired her with all my heart. She was born a commoner, yet she managed to rise to the rank of Empress. I wanted to possess the same kind of determination and strength that she had. On top of that, I came to care for Lelouch and Nunnally almost as much as I did Euphie." Cornelia replied, her voice and gaze somewhat distant. "That's why I was so happy to be appointed as the captain of her personal guard. But then…"

"Then she dismissed you on what turned out to be the one time she really needed you."

"Exactly. The one time she needed me, I-I wasn't there to protect her." Cornelia replied, resting her in her hands as she let out a shuddering breath.

"Caught between your duties as a soldier and family member. One telling you to follow orders, the other telling you to stay and protect your family." I mused. "In all honesty, and please don't take this the wrong way Cornelia, but I doubt you being there would've changed anything.

"What do you mean?" Cornelia asked, narrowing her eyes at me.

"Because it's likely that you would simply have died along with Marianne. The end result would've been the same, only with an extra casualty. Then Euphemia probably would've shared the same fate as Lelouch and Nunnally."

"That was a brave thing to say, Matthew. But I certainly can't argue with you there. I'd never want Euphemia to be left alone in this world. She's a sweet girl, but this world can be unforgiving, and she's not ready for it yet." Cornelia replied, sitting back in her seat.

"I get what you mean. She means well, but I do think she can be a bit naïve sometimes." I replied, placing the frame on the couch next to me. "Besides, I'd rather see you angry than sad." This drew a short burst of laughter from both of us.

Looking back at the photo, I felt myself getting slightly choked up, tears beginning to well up in the corners of my eyes. Looking at the happy family pictured in front of me, it finally started to sink in that I might never get to see my own family ever again. After all, I had no idea how I'd arrived in this world, and extraordinary events like that rarely happen even once, let alone twice. As that thought ran through my head, I could feel a few tears run down and drip off my face, landing on the glass of the frame I held in my hands.

"Matthew?" I heard Cornelia ask. Unfortunately, I wasn't exactly in a fit state to answer her. I heard faint rustle of fabric on fabric, before I felt her sit down on the couch next to me. Gently, she removed the frame from my grasp, not that I offered any resistance, before embracing me in a tight hug. That proved to be my breaking point, as I wrapped my arms around Cornelia and just let the tears flow. I was too chocked up to actually make any sound, all I could was bury my face into the shoulder of the woman in front of me, letting my tears flow freely. One of Cornelia's hands began rubbing my back in a soothing manner, seemingly in an effort to coax every last tear from my body.

After what seemed like an age, but more likely it was only a minute or two, my tears stopped coming, and Cornelia released me from the hug, apparently unconcerned about her now tear-stained shoulder.

"Better?" she asked.

"Yes, thank you." I replied, my voice slightly faint, not surprising given what had just happened. "Sorry about that, I just-."

"Don't apologise, Matthew." Cornelia interrupted. "I can't even begin to imagine what this must be like for you. I've lost a few siblings, but you've seemingly lost your entire world. Honestly, I'm amazed you were able to cope for this long."

"I guess I hadn't really been thinking about until now." I replied, using my right glove to wipe away the tears left on my face. "Thanks, Cornelia."

"No need to thank me, Matthew. I've already promised that I would help you deal with your situation as much as I can." She replied. "Now then, I think I've kept you long enough. Go and enjoy your day off. With what happened yesterday, you might not get another one for a while."

"I'll do that. And thanks, Cornelia." I replied, rising from my seat.

"Before you go, take this." She replied, handing me a small piece of plastic. It was rectangular in shape and coloured a deep maroon red, with a black strip on one side, and the Royal Guard insignia on the other, along with a series of numbers.

"I credit card, I assume?" I asked.

"Exactly. It'll give you access to your new bank account I had Guilford set up. Just text the card number to the bank, and they'll allow you to set up your PIN number. After that, you can simply text them your PIN to see your account balance." Cornelia explained.

"Just out of curiosity," I said, slipping the card into one of my jacket pockets. "How much am I being paid?"

"You're getting the salary of a top-level Lieutenant Colonel. That works out to an annual salary of £200,000 IBP (Imperial Britannian Pound)." Cornelia explained. I was stunned. If their pound was similar to the British Pound in my world, that was over $350,000 NZD (New Zealand Dollar)!

"That much?!" I exclaimed.

"Of course. Britannia pays its soldiers well, and since you're a member of my Royal Guard, you'll be paid even more highly than that." Cornelia replied. "After all, your primary mission is to defend my life. Also, given your situation I think you deserve to be able to splash out now and then."

"When you put it like that, it makes sense. Honestly, I'm not complaining, I'm just surprised." I replied.

"Don't worry about it. Now, off you go. Guilford will call you if anything comes up." Cornelia said, waving me off as I left the office.

* * *

 **12:24 pm**

 **Tokyo Settlement, Area 11**

 **Omotesandō Mall**

" _Got to hand it to the Britannians, they definitely have some good stuff here."_ I thought, as I continued wandering through the Omotesandō Mall, which it turned out was located not too far from Ashford Academy, just near the border of the Tokyo Settlement. It had taken a little while get here, but so far I was glad I'd made the trip. Initially, I'd just wandered around, trying to get a feel for the place, and more importantly the sorts of things on offer. Not surprisingly, the sight of a Royal Guard officer drew more than a few looks, but only at first.

I hadn't bothered to buy myself anything casual, since I found my uniform to be comfortable enough, plus I never knew when I might be needed, so it made sense to always be dressed and ready for action. I had however purchased slightly pricy black formal suit, with a red tie. I figured it was probably a good idea, just in case I needed to attend some sort of function in the future, which was almost certain given my current job. Thankfully, the store had been more than happy to have the suit delivered, saving me the trouble of having to carry it around with me. After that, I'd stopped off at a café for lunch, helping myself to a chocolate and banana crêpe, accompanied by a lovely espresso. Back home, I'd had coffee on occasion, but never really drunk it on a daily basis. However, living with two princesses had meant that I'd pretty much been forced to try it more often, and had now developed quite the taste for it. As a bonus, the caffeine had helped me recover better from my hand-to-hand combat lessons with Guilford.

"Lieutenant Colonel?" a voice called out behind me, breaking me out of my thoughts. Turning around, the source of the voice turned out to be an approaching Shirley Fenette, with a surprised-looking Milly Ashford following behind. The two girls were dressed in casual clothes, which I realised were the same ones they'd been wearing at Lake Kawaguchi.

"Afternoon ladies, fancy meeting you here." I replied, as the two girls came to a stop a few steps away. "Let me guess, shopping trip?"

"Yeah, but mostly it's so we can get some peace and quiet. Everyone at school just won't leave us alone." Shirley explained.

"It's about what happened at Lake Kawaguchi, right?" I asked, though I already guessed what her answer would be.

"Exactly, it's been such a pain. They just won't leave us alone, even in the baths!" Milly exclaimed.

"That doesn't sound fun." I groaned, imagining what that could be like.

"And on top of that, Shirley here won't stop making fun of me!" Milly cried, clenching her fists in front of her chest.

"Oh come on, Madame President. Aren't you going to thank your knight in shining armour?" Shirley teased, flashing the most mischievous grin I'd ever seen at Milly, who just buried her face in her hands and groaned in reply.

"What do mean…oh, that. Yeah, sorry about that, I just couldn't resist." I said, realising Shirley was referring to me picking up Milly bridal style back at the lake. Clearly, Shirley was having a grand old time reminding her friend about it. _"I shouldn't be surprised, since Milly did seem to get pretty flustered. She's obviously not used to being teased herself."_

"Anyway, why are you here, Matthew?" Milly asked, clearly hoping to change the subject.

"Princess Cornelia gave me the day off, so I thought I'd have a look around while I had the opportunity. Care to show me around?" I replied.

"Why not? The more, the merrier." Shirley replied, Milly nodding in agreement.

"Alright then, lead the way. I just need to make sure I get back to the palace by 6 o'clock." I said.

"Why's that?" Milly asked, as the three of us started walking.

"I'm seeing off three of our soldiers that died at Lake Kawaguchi." I explained. "I sent them into the utilities tunnel first, to try and break through, but we never counted on the linear cannon the JLF had set up down there."

"I'm sorry." Milly replied, her voice and expression solemn.

"It's fine. I've already accepted what happened; there's no way I could've known what would happen, and those men knew the risks. Seeing them off back home is the least I can do." I replied.

"Okay you two, let's leave the depressing stuff behind." Shirley announced, grabbing Milly and I by the shoulder, despite the fact that I was a good few inches taller than the redhead. "We're here to enjoy ourselves, so let's focus on that."

"You're right, let's go." I replied.

* * *

 **3:32 pm**

Somehow, what I'd thought was going to be a short trip the mall ended up being a three hour adventure with Milly and Shirley, not that I minded. The girls turned out to be great company, regaling me with various funny and interesting stories from Ashford. Although I had to admit my favourite bits were whenever Milly started teasing Shirley about Lelouch. Apparently, the redhead really had it bad for the raven-haired boy, but Lelouch was seemingly oblivious to this fact, which somehow didn't deter Shirley at all. I certainly admired her persistence, and hoped that things would eventually turn out well for her.

Milly, on the other hand, turned out to have had a pretty interesting life so far. As a young girl, her family had been good friends with the late Empress Marianne and her children, having spent many enjoyable days with them. But after Marianne's death, the Ashford family lost much of its social standing, and moved to Area 11 shortly after the war, with Milly's grandfather establishing Ashford Academy. As a result of this, Milly's family were routinely pushing for the young woman to marry some sort of noble, in the hopes that it would improve their social status in Britannia. I felt annoyed that her family would be attempting to do this, but I could at least understand why. In Britannia, social status was everything, so I could see why her family was desperate to regain their previous position. In spite of all this, Milly somehow managed to keep up her carefree and teasing ways.

" _At least she has some way of dealing with it. It's a shame I can't help her out at all."_ I thought. Suddenly, a voice cried out behind me.

"DIE, YOU DAMN BRITANNIAN!" Turning around as quickly as I could, I was greeted by the sight of a somewhat unshaven man, clearly an Eleven charging at me with a knife clutched in his right hand. The man was already too close for me to pull out my gun, so I instinctively fell back on Guilford's training. As the man got closer, I lunged forward, dodging the blade before lifting my arms up, then bringing them down, trapping the man's forearms between my arms and the sides of my body. Then before he could react, I rammed my right knee into the attacker's stomach, driving all the air out of his lungs, then released his arms and kicked him hard in the chest. The Eleven was sent sprawling onto the ground, the knife falling from his grip and clattering to the ground. Immediately I drew my pistol and trained it on the Eleven, who was now struggling to get to his feet.

"Don't move!" I shouted, aiming my gun directly at the man's head. Before he could do anything, three security guards arrived, two of them grabbing a hold of the Eleven and restraining him. Satisfied that they had him under control, I flicked the safety on my gun back on and slide it back into my holster. As I took a few deep breaths, I began to notice the shocked and horrified looks on the faces of everyone around me. Turning around, I saw Shirley with a tight grip on Milly's arm, but other than that the two girls seemed relatively unshaken. Not surprising, given their own experiences not too long ago.

"My Lord, are you alright?" One of the security guards asked, as the other two hauled the Eleven to his feet, having already cuffed him.

"Yes, I'm fine. Thank you for the quick response." I replied. "Turn that man over to the police. Have him charged with attempting to assault an officer of the Royal Guard, with intent to kill."

"Yes, my Lord." The guard replied, snapping off a quick salute, before he and the other two guards led the Eleven away. With that situation now dealt with, I turned back to my two companions.

"It's okay, everything's fine now." I assured them. Both girls let out sighs of relief.

"I _really_ don't want that to happen again." Shirley gasped, taking a few deep breaths, as her body shook slightly out of fear.

"What matters is that we're all still okay, thanks to Matthew." Milly replied.

"Just doing my job. Now then, I think it's best that we get you two home. You've probably had enough excitement for one day." I suggested, to which both girls nodded. They followed me outside, where I hailed a taxi, instructing the driver to take them both back to Ashford as quickly as possible, and to send the bill to the palace, so I could settle it later. Milly and Shirley waved goodbye, then their taxi drove off, heading in the general direction of their school. With that done, I let out an exasperated sigh.

" _And to think this was supposed to be my day off. Oh well, I did have fun at least."_ I thought, before calling for my own ride back home.

* * *

 **AN:** And done! Phew, that was a LOT of work! The hardest part was having to go back and watch the episode repeatedly to make sure I got the dialogue and events correct. I even looked at photos of Lake Kawaguchi to try and work out roughly where the hotel would be located if it were real! Anyways, I hope it paid off and you all enjoyed the chapter. The next one will focus on an operation against the Kyushu Route, very similar the one featured in _Ripped Away_ by **A.D. Fields** , although Matthew will sustain a more…permanent injury, shall we say? Hope that doesn't reveal too much.

Thankfully, I've no worked out a timeline for the rest of R1, so future chapters should come a little faster, though I can't make any promises.

 **Anzac-A1, out!**

 **[1]** : Hint, hint.

 **[2]:** Definitely enjoyed writing this little rant for Matthew. It was inspired by Nonette's rant in Chapter 7 of _Code Geass: A Brave New World_ , by **nightbringer24**. Awesome story, inspired this one, so check it out if you haven't yet and you love Code Geass!


	8. Chapter 8: Hiatus Announcement

**AN: This will be replaced with a proper Chapter 8.**

* * *

 **Hiatus Announcement**

 **Hi guys, sorry for the fact that I haven't updated this for sooooo long. I've been working on the next chapter, but only in small, short bursts, 'cause a lot of the time I just don't have the motivation to write much. Don't know why, since I'm still fully committed to this story, I just don't always have the urge to write. In light of this, I'm putting "A New Signature" on temporary hiatus.**

 **Rest assured, I WILL come back to this story. And when I do, you'll be rewarded with a very long (10,000+ words) chapter, where quite a lot happens, and something major happens to Matthew, though I won't spoil it by telling you what it is.**

 **I just want to thank everyone who has followed this story for sticking with it, despite by tendency to go for months without updating. You guys have made this my most popular story ever in terms of favourites and follows, and that means a lot to me. So do feel free to keep sending me any ideas and suggestions you might have. Sometimes stuff like that can drive me to write more, so more suggestions may mean a shorter hiatus.**

* * *

 **Anzac-A1, out!**


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